Kemba Walker, Boston Celtics, outlast Philadelphia 76ers, take 3-0 series lead

The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers battled for 48 minutes in an ugly game. The Celtics were never able to pull away from the Sixers until the final seconds to win 102-94 and take a 3-0 series lead.

Here’s how it went:

In a switch, it was Boston that came out strong, building a 9 point lead against some very porous Philadelphia defense. The opening play was a backdoor Jaylen Brown dunk and the first three Celtics baskets were dunks or layups. The Sixers chipped away, mostly at the free throw line, to keep the game close. Boston went scoreless for nearly three minutes and also let the Sixers grab 7 offensive rebounds, and the lead dropped to just 2 heading into the second.

The second quarter was played mostly even with neither team taking advantage of the other’s miscues. Boston got the lead up to 8 about midway through the quarter when the Sixers went scoreless for about two minutes, but they couldn’t capitalize. Philly came back to even the quarter and went into the half down just 2. Jayson Tatum, who had 3 early fouls, didn’t play at all in the quarter.

The third quarter wasn’t much different. Aside from a quick Kemba Walker burst that got Boston’s lead up to 9, but they again couldn’t close the Sixers out. Joel Embiid went to the bench with 4 fouls and Boston couldn’t take advantage. They continued to give Philly second chances, allowing the Sixers to grab 16 offensive boards through the third. Boston only added 2 to their lead going into the final quarter.

Walker kept hitting his mid-range jumpers to help keep the Celtics on top and then Jayson Tatum finally started going about halfway through the quarter. Still, Boston couldn’t pull away, and the Sixers went on an 8-2 run fueled by more second chance points to cut the lead to 1. Philly took a lead with 4:33 left. The Celtics took it back for a short bit but the Sixers regained it on Embiid’s 14th free throw of the night. With less than two minutes to go, a Marcus Smart steal triggered a 10-0 run to end the game.

What went right?

What went wrong?

3 things we learned:

1. The Celtics can get any clean midrange shot they want

No matter how Philadelphia plays them, the Celtics (especially Kemba Walker, who scored 24 points) can still get clean looks from 15 feet.

2. Boston’s offense is still too 1-on-1

Jayson Tatum could never get it going in this one but the Celtics were a little too willing to let him try to find his groove individually rather than try to move the ball and get him some open looks. It’s hard against the Sixers defense, but they still have to find their way to pulling the Sixers out of position. They seemed to do it well early in the game but it went away and didn’t return.

3. Jaylen Brown’s free throw shooting is much improved

Brown (21 points) hit 8 of 9 from the line in this game, including two instances of making all 3 free throws on 3-point fouls. The latter was a clutch fourth quarter situation with Boston down 2.

Related Content:

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.