Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have played in more NBA playoff games since Tatum’s rookie season in 2018 than any other players. And that, the many times they’ve been tested in the biggest moments, showed in Friday night’s game against their arch foes in the 76ers; Yankee Scores reports…
The “Tested” Duo Delivers in the Fourth
Until Derrick White nailed a couple of insurance free throws in the final seconds, Tatum and Brown combined to score or assist on the first 27 points Boston scored in the fourth quarter, including both players hitting multiple dagger jumpers as the Celtics took back the series lead in this best-of-seven series with a dramatic 108-100 victory over Philadelphia in front of a sold-out crowd at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
“I just missed being a part of moments like that where it’s just a back-and-forth game,” said Tatum, who continued his return from last year’s torn Achilles tendon with 25 points, four rebounds, seven assists and a steal in 42 minutes, including the game-sealing 3-pointer off a White offensive rebound with 27 seconds to go.
“Sometimes we had some moments where things didn’t go our way and then we had to fight back and get the lead,” Tatum added. “And it was just a figure-it-out type of game. And make winning plays. The rebound [White] got. The steal that [Brown] got. (Payton Pritchard) hitting that big shot. Just as a basketball player, being on a team where everybody’s just contributing and making plays, I just missed being a part of moments like that.
“And it was just fun.”
It was a fascinating game to watch, with Tatum and Brown – who also had 25 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal and three blocks in 40 minutes – making one big play after another on one side while Tyrese Maxey, who finished with 31 points and six assists, did the same for the 76ers.4
Second Chances and the 3-Point Barrage
But on a night when both sides were throwing one big punch after another at each other in the final minutes of the game, it was the Celtics who managed to make just enough plays – and, importantly, create a couple of key second-chance opportunities by grabbing offensive rebounds – to send the Philadelphia 76ers home with a disappointing loss. Everyone knew the Celtics would take a lot of 3-pointers.
Sure, Boston shot 13-for-50 from 3-point range in Game 2, but anyone who has seen coach Joe Mazzulla’s team play in recent years would know that wouldn’t stop them from taking plenty of shots in Game 3. And that’s what they did, shooting 20-for-47 from 3-point range.
That final Tatum shot prompted him to yell in celebration and was the latest sign of how much better the Celtics have been since he returned in early March after spending 10 months recovering from an injury.
“I think they hit four or five 3s off offensive rebounds, so that’s kind of doubly bad,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “It’s a battle out there.
“We knew that was a big, probably the number one key coming into the series, and we probably didn’t do enough.”
The Embiid Watch: A Sunday Return?
Now, as the series spins ahead to Game 4 on Sunday night, not only will the 76ers be focused on trying to bounce back, but they’ll also be hoping to get superstar centerJoel Embiid back on the court, after he was upgraded to doubtful Thursday — two weeks after undergoing an emergency appendectomy in Houston — but was then ruled out two hours before tip Friday night.
“He’s been incrementally getting better and stronger and getting more physical,” Brown said. “You can see downhill, he’s getting downhill at a higher level than he did when he started. But, we do it as a team. We win as a team and lose as a team. So in those moments, I got nothing but trust for Jayson Tatum.
“So when it comes down to it, we’ve been through it, so we just got to make big-time plays.”
“Anybody that ever doubts D-White, they don’t really care about winning,” Mazzulla said. “There’s a competitive confidence there. There’s a character piece there.
“Those two rebounds were big-time rebounds, and he can impact winning in so many different ways, so I’m always going to double down on his competitive character, who he is.”
