By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
The Philadelphia 76ers were picked by many analysts to beat the Boston Celtics without it’s two best players. Some even thought the 76ers could defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals.
The 76ers may get lucky to win one game. Boston defeated Philadelphia, 101-98, in overtime at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.
The Celtics now have a 3-0 lead in the conference semifinals. The series will continue on Monday night at 6 pm at the Wells Fargo Center.
The team who has been up 3-0 in a best-of-seven series is 129-0.
Al Horford got the game-winning field goal with 5.5 seconds left in the contest. He also had the game-sealing steal.
Horford is the second Celtics player to have a go-ahead field goal in the final six seconds of overtime in the last 20 postseasons. The last-time this happened was in 2009 when Paul Pierce did it in Game 5 of their first round series against the Chicago Bulls.
This was the first-time that the Celtics and 76ers went to the playoffs since the 1966 Eastern Division Finals. The Celtics won this game, 114-108.
Wilt Chamberlain had 15 points and 33 rebounds for the Sixers in the 1966 contest. Bill Russell also had 18 points and 30 rebounds for the Celtics.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 24 points. He also had five rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
Tatum, who the Sixers passed up with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, has scored at least 20 points in five straight playoff games, according to ESPN’s Stats & Information. He surpassed Larry Bird (1980) for the most consecutive 20-point playoff games by a rookie in Celtics history.
Tatum was one of four Boston players, who scored in double-figures. Terry Rozier III had 18 points, while Jaylen Brown added 16 and Horford contributed 13.
The Celtics had 30 bench points. Brown led the bench with 16 points.
Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 22 points. He also had 19 rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal.
He is the sixth player in Sixers history to have three straight 20-point, 10-rebound games in the playoffs, according to ESPN’s Stats & Information. The previous five are Hall of Famers in Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, Billy Cunningham, Wilt Chamberlain, and Dolph Schayes.
Embiid was one of six Philadelphia players, who scored in double-digits. J.J. Redick had 18 points, while Ben Simmons added 16, and Ersan İlyasova contributed 14.
Marco Belinelli also had 12 points and Dario Šarić scored 11.
The Sixers had 30 bench points. İlyasova led the bench with 14.
