Celtics take command with OT win
PHILADELPHIA — Al Horford scored the go-ahead basket for Boston late in overtime in a wild Game 3 where the Philadelphia 76ers gave away the basketball and the confetti, leading the Celtics to a 101-98 win on Saturday night.
The Celtics go for the sweep on Monday.
The ending to regulation was about as wild as it gets for both teams. JJ Redick threw away the basketball on an errant pass to no one that was scooped by Terry Rozier who threw to Jaylen Brown for the basket and an 89-87 lead.
Seconds later, Marco Belinelli stunned everyone with a falling 22-footer in front of the 76ers bench as time expired that sent the game into overtime — and confetti mistakenly blasted from the cannon. There was about a seven-minute delay while team employees scrambled to clean up the mess on the court. Some players even scooped up confetti as everyone waited for the start of overtime.
Belinelli opened OT with a 23-footer and Redick followed with a 3 that appeared to take him off the hook.
But the Celtics wouldn’t let them pull away and Horford escaped for a layup with 5.5 seconds that gave Boston a 99-98 lead. Ben Simmons then threw the ball away after a timeout and Horford sealed the win with two free throws.
Jayson Tatum scored 24 points and Rozier had 18.
Joel Embiid had 22 points and 19 rebounds for the Sixers, Redick scored 18 and Simmons 16.
The Celtics, who rallied from a 22-point deficit to beat the 76ers 108-103 in Game 2, can advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season on Monday.
The highlight came on Belinelli’s
NBA PLAYOFFS GLANCE (Best-of-7; x-if necessary) All times Eastern Boston 101, Philadelphia 98, OT (Bostonleads,3-0)
Toronto at Cleveland, late Golden State at New Orleans, 3:30 p.m.
Houston at Utah, 8 p.m. Boston at Philadelphia, 6 p.m. Toronto at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m.
He did it all in the second quarter when the Sixers looked every bit the team that ended the season on a 16-game win streak.
Trailing by 10 early in the second, Simmons had an emphatic slam to kickstart a rally. Simmons would make the highlight reel with a behind-the-back pass to a charging Embiid for a thunderous dunk over Aron Baynes. Embiid made the free throw and the crowd was going bonkers.
Redick and Dario Saric each hit 3s during the 13-0 run that helped the Sixers take a 51-48 lead into halftime.
TIP-INS
76ers: The Sixers have suddenly become one of the hottest teams at attracting celebrities. Rapper Meek Mill, Questlove of The Roots, celebrity physician Dr. Oz, UFC President Dana White and director M. Night Shyamalan were all at the game, as were other members of the Eagles.
Celtics: The Celtics missed 15 of 22 3s in the first half and only attempted four free throws.