The Boston Celtics held their nerve in Philadelphia to snatch a 101-98 win over the 76ers in Game 3.
Jayson Tatum led the way for the Celtics with 24 points in the win, while Terry Rozer added 18 points and Jaylen Brown 16. Al Horford finished with 13 points and six rebounds but came up with a pair of clutch plays down the stretch to give the Celtics the win.
For the Sixers, Joel Embiid had 22 points and 19 rebounds, while JJ Redick added 18 points. Ben Simmons finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
As the Sixers stare down a 3-0 deficit, here's three takeaways from Game 3.
Celtics make Sixers pay for turnovers
Philly had 15 turnovers in Game 3, but two in overtime and one at the end of regulation all but sealed their fate.
At the end of regulation, JJ Redick and Ben Simmons got mixed up with Redick passing the ball towards the Aussie who was moving in the other direction. Rozier got the steal and Jaylen Brown finished the open layup at the other end to give Boston an 89-87 lead.
The in OT, a careless pass from Embiid with 46.6 remaining resulted in another Terry Rozier steal. He got the ball to Horford, who was fouled by Embiid and buried 1-of-2 free throws to cut the lead to 98-97.
The after an Al Horford layup put Boston up 99-98, Philly had the ball with 3.9 seconds remaining and again coughed it up off the inbound. Horford was fouled and buried both shots to put the game to bed.
Those three plays will be haunting coach Brett Brown and the Sixers tonight.
Celtics kids outshine Sixers
While Al Horford came up with the clutch plays to ice the game, the performances from Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum deserve a ton of credit.
At every turn the young duo injected pace into the Celtics' offense as they tirelessly attacked the paint.
Jayson Tatum is the only player in NBA History to score 20+ points in five consecutive playoff games at 20 years old or younger. @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/eClVVnHuDb
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) May 6, 2018
Tatum's ability to blitz past defenders like Marco Belinelli gave the Celtics a huge advantage down the stretch as he buried two layups in the final 90 seconds of regulation to keep the Celtics alive. Tatum took the ball to the hoop like he meant it, no matter who was waiting for him at the basket. Even Joel Embiid.
GOT ‘EM pic.twitter.com/PcgBU0e1uX
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 5, 2018
Despite both being in early foul trouble, they adjusted down the stretch and made sure they were on the floor to finish the game.
Sixers' three-point woes continue
The three-point shot has been such a key part of Philly's offence, but in this series, the long ball has deserted them
After hitting just 9-of-30 today, they have now made just 30 of their 89 attempts this series (33.7%). The Celtics have done a great job chasing the likes of JJ Redick, Maro Belinelli and co around the perimeter, but the Sixers simply have to knock down shots from deep.
If they have no spacing from the perimeter, life becomes very difficult for Simmons and Embiid inside.