The Boston Celtics won in the final stretch due to the game in the defensive aspect of the field.
In a three-game round-trip game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night, the Celtics escaped with a 102–94 victory. Boston now leads the seven series 3-0.
And the Celtics did it on a 10-0 streak in the 2:14 final. Marcus Smart had a tight flight time, Jayson Tatum blocked Joel Embiid and the C’s got rid of him.
Philadelphia, however, dominated Boston over the glass. They had a 57-45 rebound credit with a 20-3 (!!) merit on the offensive boards.
Kemba Walker led the Celtics with 24 points, Jaylen Brown added 21 and Tatum finished with 15 after a rough start due to shooting problems and shooting problems. Smart also added double digits with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.
Here’s how it all turned out:
The Celtics forced the 76ers to fire 6 of 25 field shots, still holding a two-point lead, 26-24. That came after Philadelphia changed 11 of his 15 straight shots with Joel Embiid (7 out of 9 in the line) scoring 12 points.
Kemba Walker led the C’s with eight problems, while Jaylen Brown had seven. Jayson Tatum had trouble shooting 2 out of 7 from the ground (five numbers) with 3 fouls. Boston fired nine out of 24 from the ground.
The Celtics maintained their two-point lead in the first quarter with a 51-49 lead in the middle.
Boston was 11-3 mid-fourth, however, Embiid’s 22 problems and 10 rebounds in the first half never allowed the 76ers (10 offensive rebounds) to spend more than nine problems in the part.
The Celtics went on break by firing at 38% of the area, while Philadelphia fired just under 33% from the ground. Brown, who made impressive overturns, led the Cs with thirteen problems in the first half, while Walker added 10. Tatum played only 8 minutes before intermission.
Smart, in addition to his defense, finished a three-point game.
Although the Sixers had a transparent merit over the glass (16-3 offensive rebounds of three) and second-chance (16-7) problems, Walker helped the Cs take a 76-72 lead in the fourth. Boston led no fewer than seven problems in the quarter.
The All-Star base scored 10 of his 20 problems in the third, and also helped the Cs increase their shot percentage to 40% on the field.
And the Celtics needed it because Tatum struggled with an offensive pace (4-14 in 3 quarters).
The Celtics extended their lead to seven points, 85-78, with Tatum draining a triple and turning a tray after a low-post play.
The Sixers, however, reduced that deficit to a point mid-term. Philadelphia took a 90-89 lead with 4:30 for playing before taking a 94-92 lead with 2:14 for playing.
Chaos ensued. Daniel Theis committed a foul three minutes from the end, the Celtics flipped the ball in a violation of the stopwatch, a borrowed shot from Smart scouse led to a 3-point play for Brown, the Sixers were called up for a transparent four-way shot, resulting in a Free Throw Tatum and Pull-up Walker to give Boston a four-point lead at the last minute.
Smart then added a couple of downs to give the Celtics a 100-94 lead with 36 tics remaining, which set the game aside.
And the gameArray game..
The Celtics will be in favor of a sweep opposite the 76ers with the fourth game scheduled for Sunday afternoon.