PHILADELPHIA — After a Game 2 mess, the Boston Celtics entered the Thunderdome on Friday night (in this case, also known as Xfinity Mobile Arena). Their opponent? The Philadelphia 76ers. The result? A down-to-the-wire, heart-in-your-stomach affair.
Both teams went back and forth. Neither was perfect, and there were plenty of mistakes to go around.
But by the end of the night, the sheer determination of Jaylen Brown helped steer the ship. Big-time shots from Payton Pritchard and Jayson Tatum backed it up, as did Derrick White's offensive rebounding.
Up: Jaylen Brown
It was an imperfect night for Brown. He had some untimely drives for turnovers, and he missed a few potential kick-out passes. But for the most part, he was the Celtics' most consistent offensive option.
On a night when Boston needed buckets, he provided. Brown got to his spots, rose up above the defense, and made the same tough shots he's been making all season.
Brown has had many better games this year. This wasn't even his best playoff game (out of three). But the Celtics needed points, and he gave them points.
And when the Celtics needed points late in this game, Brown was there. He looked like the MVP candidate Boston needed.
Plus, on the defensive end, Brown took his game to another level. He was all over the place, blocking shots, getting in passing lanes, and employing perfectly aggressive point-of-attack defense.
Brown left everything he had on the floor, even playing through a particularly brutal twisted ankle he suffered with 5:39 to go in the fourth quarter.
He just looked like he wanted it more.
Down: Derrick White
The word slump doesn't do it justice anymore. White has completely lost his ability to shoot.
He can shoot. At some point, his shot will return. He's been too consistent over the past few years for that not to be the case. But right now, it's not there.
And Philadelphia knows it.
On top of his lack of offensive production, White hasn't been able to stick with Tyrese Maxey at all this series.
There's not much more to say on the subject. It's simple: It's just not White's series right now.
However, in the dying moments of the game, White was absolutely huge.
His hustle on the offensive glass was one of the main reasons Boston won this game. For all his faults, Joe Mazzulla kept him on the floor, and he delivered in the biggest way possible.
Up: Baylor Scheierman
It's getting hard to justify Baylor Scheierman being kept off the floor. His ability to stick his hands into every part of the game is invaluable, especially in a series as tough as this one.
The Sixers have a ton of very talented players, and a bunch of role players who are very good at very specific things (Andre Drummond's rebounding, Kelly Oubre Jr.'s on-ball defense, etc.). Scheierman does a great job of giving Boston a little bit of a lot of things.
With Scheierman, it's always more than the box score. His 3-point makes are important. But so is his ability to drive closeouts. His offensive rebounding is crucial. But so is his sheer willingness to crash the glass, preventing transition opportunities and forcing Philadelphia to send more guys to the boards.
Scheierman always brings a little bit of everything for Boston, and he should be earning more consistent minutes throughout the postseason.
Keeping him off the floor as much as Boston did in Game 3 felt a bit odd.
Down: Neemias Queta
This has been a brutal series for Neemias Queta. After a fourth-place finish in Most Improved Player voting, Queta has fallen back into a previous version of himself in these last three games.
His under-the-basket positioning on defense has been completely off. He's getting beaten at the rim, and when he steps up, he gets blown by. And on the offensive end, he just hasn't been flowing.
Queta's timing in the pick-and-roll has been off, his screen length has been off, and he just can't seem to get two hands on the ball.
It's getting to the point where Queta should be deferring his minutes to Nikola Vucevic and Luka Garza (at least, if he continues to struggle).
Up: Nikola Vucevic
Vucevic has been solid this series, but this was his best game by far. He delivered in almost every way Boston could have asked him to.
On defense, he provided a surprising interior presence. It wasn't perfect, and he doesn't possess the necessary athleticism to get up for every contest, but he was a brick wall. Outside of a few mishaps, he was rock solid.
As for his offensive game, though it wasn't his most efficient showing, he was a decent hub. The inside-out game worked well when Vucevic got the ball in the post. Philadelphia often sent help, opening up kick-out passes for the big man.
Vucevic's late-game pick-and-roll defense wasn't great, but overall, he had an impressive outing.
He was Boston's best center option in Game 3, and the Celtics desperately needed every single minute he gave them.
Down: Jayson Tatum
In Boston's first two games, Tatum looked solid. Game 1 was incredible, and Game 2 was okay. Game 3 felt like a step back.
He didn't look very comfortable driving to the basket, and his affinity for off-the-dribble threes was front and center. But perhaps the weirdest development was his defense.
There was a point in this game where Tatum looked completely off-center on the defensive end. Late in the first quarter, Oubre blew right by him for a bucket, and Mazzulla called a timeout and ripped into him.
Not long after, he committed a frustration foul on Oubre, pushing him out of bounds and gifting the 76ers a two-for-one.
As the night went on, Tatum slowly improved, and in the fourth quarter, he ran the offense well, but it wasn't an ideal night for the Celtics superstar.
A quick glance at the stat line may say otherwise, but Tatum just didn't seem like his usual self.
All that said, when it came time for the Celtics to secure a win, Tatum nailed a massive pull-up triple to do just that.
More ups
Pritchard was a driving force of Boston's offense. His 3-point shooting was critical, and it feels like Boston should work to integrate him into the offense even more.
He's been left on the back burner a bit in this series, and he could provide the jolt Boston needs. Pritchard also hit one of the biggest shots of this game in the final minute.
And while he didn't play a ton of minutes, Luka Garza looked good. He hustled on the glass and nailed a three. He certainly made a convincing case for additional minutes moving forward.
More downs
The Celtics continued to give up big swings in this game. Sometimes, it was a missed layup that Philadelphia turned into transition points. Others, it was a turnover that flipped into a 76ers 3-ball.
Those types of swings can define a game. They did in Game 2. Yet Boston still coughed them up on Friday night.
Boston's late-game execution also left something to be desired. Tatum and Brown tried to get inside and make plays, but they fell short against the Sixers' impressive ball pressure.
Turnovers and empty possessions opened the door for big-time 76ers momentum buckets.