Walker powers Celtics past 76ers

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Kemba Walker has been in the NBA nine seasons and been selected to three All-Star games — yet he’s never won a playoff series.

That might be about to change.

Walker scored 24 points and the Boston Celtics closed with a 10-0 run to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102-94 on Friday night for a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

“This is why I came here (to Boston) and this is a special moment for myself,” said Walker, who joined the Celtics after eight playofffree seasons in Charlotte. “I’ve never been up 3-0. But the job is not done. You have to give it everything you got because those guys over there are not quitting.”

“He’s a fighter, he’s a competitor, and he’s talked all year about wanting to win,“Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.

Jaylen Brown had 21 points and Jason Tatum added 15 for the Celtics.

Joel Embiid had 30 points and 13 rebounds to lead the 76ers. They shot 29.5% from the field.

No NBA team has ever rebounded from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series.

Boston led 51-49 at the half, with Embiid carrying Philadelphia with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Midway through the third, Walker completed a personal 8-0 run with a fast-break layup and foul on Embiid — his fourth. But Philadelphia didn’t fold with its All-Star center on the bench, instead battling back to tie it.

Botson pulled away when Brown scored converted a 3-point play to put the Celtics ahead for good with 1:37 left. Walker followed a free throw by Tatum with a killer step-back jumper over the top of Al Horford en route to a 10-0 run.

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Game 4 is Sunday.

Kim Klement / Associated Press The Celtics’s Kemba Walker (8) shoots over the 76ers’ Al Horford (42) on Friday night.