Celtics, Cavs get it done late, near series sweeps

Al Horford scored the go-ahead basket for the Celtics late in overtime in a wild Game 3 in which the 76ers gave away the ball and confetti, leading the Celtics to a 101-98 win on Saturday in Philadelphia.

The Celtics go for a sweep of the Eastern Conference semifinals Monday.

The ending to regulation was about as wild as it gets for both teams. JJ Redick threw an errant pass to no one that was scooped up by Terry Rozier, who threw ahead to Jaylen Brown for the basket and an 89-87 lead with 1.8 seconds left.

Marco Belinelli then stunned everyone with a falling 22-footer in front of the 76ers bench as time expired that sent the game into overtime — and caused confetti to mistakenly be sent out of a cannon. There was about a seven-minute delay while team employees, and some players, worked to clean up the mess on the court.

Belinelli opened OT with a 23-footer and Redick made a 3, but the Celtics wouldn’t let the 76ers pull away. Horford got free for a layup with 5.5 seconds left that gave Boston a 99-98 lead and then hit two free throws after Ben Simmons committed a turnover.

Jayson Tatum scored 24 points and Rozier had 18 for the Celtics.

Joel Embiid had 22 points and 19 rebounds for the Sixers, Redick scored 18 points and Simmons 16.

LeBron James banked in a running one-hander at the buzzer, giving the Cavaliers a win over the Raptors in Cleveland in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals and shoving the Raptors to the edge of their most devastating playoff exit.

After the Raptors tied it on rookie OG Anunoby’s 3-pointer with eight seconds left, James took the inbounds pass, dribbled the length of the floor and in one motion dropped his 10-footer in front of the Raptors’ stunned bench. The Cavaliers mobbed James and moments later he was up on the scorer’s table, duplicating an act he used to celebrate a gamewinner in the first round against the Pacers.

James finished with 38 points, Kevin Love added 21 and 16 rebounds and Kyle Korver 18 for the Cavaliers, who can sweep the Raptors for the second straight year.

Kyle Lowry scored 27 for the Raptors, who clawed back in the fourth with All-Star DeMar DeRozan on the bench. However, they fell short and now the East’s No. 1 seed will be facing a monumental task Monday — none of the 129 teams that has trailed 3-0 in a playoff series has ever come back to win it.