Everything you need to know about the Celtics' 102-94 win over the 76ers with BSJ insight and analysis:
Box Score
HEADLINES
Celtics secure the win with a huge late run: The Celtics closed out the game with a 10-0 run and that was enough to rally past the 76ers on Friday night to a 102-94 victory. Kemba Walker finished with a team-best 24 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the victory, carrying Boston’s offense for much of the evening with Jayson Tatum (6/19 FG) struggling. Jaylen Brown added 21 points and 7 rebounds while Marcus Smart chipped in with 14 points and 8 rebounds to help push the Celtics out to a 3-0 series lead.
It was an ugly night offensively for the Celtics (41 percent shooting) but Boston managed to hold the Sixers to a season-low 29 percent shooting from the field. Joel Embiid had a game-high 30 points but no one in the Sixers' starting five shot over 40 percent from the field.
Boston tries to close out the series with a sweep on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Sixers go back to Al Horford in the starting five but it doesn’t work: After watching Matisse
Thybulle get exposed in Game 2 for being a non-threat offensively, Brett Brown went back to his $100 million dollar man in Horford in this one. The fact that this was an adjustment in a must-win game speaks volumes about the talent mismatch between these two teams right now on the perimeter. Philadelphia just doesn’t have any reliable players defensively with Ben Simmons out to match up well with Boston. Horford continued to bog down the Sixers offense (1-of-5 FG) as a power forward, as Philly stumbled to their worst offensive performance of the season. Brett Brown will get a lot of blame after this one, but when you look at the performance of the Sixers bench (3-of-16 FG) and the supporting cast around Embiid, there’s really not much for him to work with here against a disciplined Celtics team.
TURNING POINT
A Tatum block of Embiid with 1:24 remaining in the game helped break open a one-point game. Tatum got the ball back in transition and Josh Richardson committed a clear path foul to prevent the uncontested layup. It was a foolish mistake by the Sixers guard, as the Celtics managed to produce three points out of the sequence once Walker hit a stepback jumper following Tatum’s free throws. Those points turned it into a two-possession game and sent Philly into panic mode on offense in the final minute.
TWO UP
Kemba Walker: The All-Star had his way with the Sixers early in this one, posting a team-high 8 points and 3 assists in the first quarter, including a highly contested 3. He ended up finishing the night with arguably his best all-around performance since January, posting team-best in points, rebounds, assists and 3-pointers made while serving as a complete pest defensively against the Sixers.
Jaylen Brown: With Gordon Hayward injured and Jayson Tatum in foul trouble in the first half, Brad Stevens leaned on the fourth-year swingman in a major way in the first half, playing him 22 out of 24 possible minutes before intermission. Brown ended up playing a game-high 42 minutes and converted a crucial go-ahead layup in the final two minutes. He also went 8-of-9 from the free throw line, giving him an impressive 96 percent accuracy mark (20/21) for the series.
TWO DOWN
Fouling: Eight different Celtics committed fouls in the first quarter and none more costly than Jayson Tatum, who committed three in his first eight minutes of action and sat out the entire second quarter. Daniel Theis ultimately fouled out in second half after just 26 minutes The heavy fouling enabled the Sixers to get to the free throw line 13 times in the first quarter and a series high 34 on the game, enabling them to hang in the game despite an ugly shooting night
Defensive rebounding: This was a potential trouble spot heading into the series and Philly made sure it would be one again after going back to a big starting lineup. Embiid, Horford and Harris combined for 10 offensive rebounds in the first half and the team collected 20 on the night, the second highest total the Celtics gave up in a game this season.
TOP PLAY
The steal.
The pass.
THE FINISH ?
doesn't get better than that pic.twitter.com/QV8mDrsCzA
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 21, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
This was the best we’ve seen of Kemba Walker since January: The All-Star may have had some higher scoring performances back in January but the energy he played with on the big stage Friday night was eye-opening. He not only did it with his pull up shooting, but Walker’s presence was felt in all areas of the floor as he took a charge, snagged a couple steals, a block and grabbed seven defensive rebounds despite being the smallest player on the floor. On a night where Boston was getting killed on the glass by the Sixers size, his willingness to get his hands dirty down low helped save a couple possessions that could have swung the game. He also delivered in crunch time with a stepback dagger over Al Horford, the same shot that he sunk against him when he was back in Charlotte. For all the understandable concerns that were had about Walker’s knee heading into the bubble, he silenced them all with this performance.
Marcus Smart picked a good time to snap out of his shooting slump: The Celtics haven't needed much out of him offensively in the past eight games, but the defensive-minded guard was mired in a miserable under-the-radar slump in the last eight games before Game 3, shooting just 21 percent from the field over that stretch. During a night where Tatum looked mortal, the Celtics needed help elsewhere and got it from the Smart. His 14 points all came inside the arc (4/8 FG, 6/6 FT) as he remained patient in the pick-and-roll to wait for open floaters or draw contact as he drove. His defense was tremendous all night long as the C’s held the Sixers to just 29 percent shooting, but his ability to chip offensively without taking too big of a share of the shot attempts looms large. The Celtics are going to need him to make shots to have any chance of beating the Raptors and this was a positive step to get him ready for that challenge.