Tatum’s 27 points lead Celtics over 76ers in Game 3
Jayson Tatum collected 27 points and 10 rebounds to fuel the visiting Boston Celtics to a 114-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Tatum bounced back from a seven-point performance in Game 2 by making 10 of 20 shots from the floor for the second-seeded Celtics, who have won two games in a row to claim a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.
Boston’s Jaylen Brown recorded 23 points and seven rebounds, and Al Horford sank five 3pointers while finishing with 17 points and seven rebounds. Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon each had 15 points and Derrick White added 13 for the Celtics.
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid collected 30 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks after being honored prior to the game for winning the NBA MVP award.
James Harden produced 16 points to go along with 11 assists despite struggling from the floor in his second straight game for the third-seeded 76ers. Harden made just 3 of 14 shots from the floor on Friday and is 5-for-28 overall and 2-for-13 from 3-point range following his 45-point performance in the series opener.
Tatum’s driving layup early in the fourth quarter gave Boston its largest lead of the game at 9077. Philadelphia countered with a 19-10 run to get within 100-96 with 3:51 left following an Embiid tip-in.
Boston scored the next five points before Harden sank a 3-pointer. Tatum answered with a trey of his own with 1:42 to play to give the Celtics a 10899 edge.
Harden made one of two free-throw attempts to trim the Celtics’ lead to eight, but Tatum and Brown each converted a pair from the charity stripe to seal the win.
Suns 121, Nuggets 114: Devin Booker matched his career playoff high of 47 points and Kevin Durant added 39 as Phoenix captured a pivotal home win over Denver in Game 3 of their series on Friday night.
Booker made 20 of 25 field-goal attempts and added nine assists, six rebounds and three steals as the fourth-seeded Suns cut their deficit to 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinals. Durant added nine rebounds and eight assists to go with a shaky 12-of-31 shooting performance for Phoenix.
Jamal Murray had 32 points, six rebounds and five assists and Nikola Jokic recorded 30 points and 17 rebounds while setting a playoff career best with 17 assists for top-seeded Denver. Michael Porter Jr. made six 3-pointers while contributing 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Nuggets.
Game 4 in the best-ofseven series is Sunday night at Phoenix.
The Suns played without Chris Paul (groin), who also might miss Game 4.
Phoenix shot 50.5 percent from the field, including 9 of 28 (32.1 percent) from three-point range. Booker hit on 5 of 8 three-pointers.
The Nuggets connected on 44.3 percent of their shots and were 10 of 30 (33.3 percent) from behind the arc. Denver’s Bruce Brown scored 11 points.
Denver, which trailed by 11 points early in the fourth quarter, crept within five on Jokic’s tip-in with 8.6 seconds left. Booker made two free throws — his only attempts of the game — to wrap it up with 6.6 seconds remaining.