In their final breath at the Disney World bubble, the 76ers pushed the Celtics to play almost an entire playoff game before they predictably collapsed down the stretch. Paced by Kemba Walker (24 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals) who was the only relevant guy on Boston to have a solid performance, Boston did just enough to cover (degenerate gamblers everywhere rejoice!) but more importantly capture Game 3 by a final score of 102-94. I'd love to see what kind of outrageous odds that you could get on Philadelphia coming back from an 0-3 deficit and winning four straight games to take the series since get this: no NBA team has ever fully rallied from an 0-3 hole. Like contestants on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette going on a 2-on-1 date, I am sure that all the Sixers already have their bags packed and sitting by their hotel room doors ready to be taken away.
Despite the C's trailing 94-92 with 2:14 left in regulation, I can't say that I was sweating it too much since I knew that they'd find a way to come out on top without even needing overtime to decide things. It has to be a good sign long-term for Boston that they were able to win even though Jaylen Brown (20 points, 7 rebounds but 6-for-16 shooting) and Jayson Tatum (15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks on 6-for-19 shooting) were far from their best. Typical of a grinding, somewhat grimy contest, Marcus Smart (14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals) shined more than usual. Daniel Theis had eight rebounds, five rebounds and two blocks before fouling out (he literally got battered by Joel Embiid all night long) and once again, Boston's bench outscored Philadelphia by a decent margin: 20-8 thanks to Grant Williams (7 points) and Enes Kanter (6 points, 6 rebounds).
This being the NBA, they were sure to assign one of their most crooked referees (which is really saying something) and true to form Scott Foster called four more fouls on Boston which resulted in 10 more free throws for Philadelphia. Tatum actually was whistled for three fouls in the first half hence why he never could really get untracked. Philly also dominated the Celts on the glass (57-45)-which could be a serious issue against a worthy opponent-including an absurd 20 offensive rebounds yet somehow Boston still found a way to get it done.
Embiid had a game-high 30 points and 13 rebounds which is misleading since he went 7-for-20 from the floor but 14-of-16 at the free throw line. He also had a game-high four turnovers and was a game-low minus-18 for what that's worth. Josh Richardson and Shake Milton both scored 17 points while Tobias Harris put up 15 points and 15 rebounds. With Ben Simmons out, this was played at Philly's preferred slow pace but their half-court offense was a disaster because as a team they shot 29.5% from the floor (2nd worst in the league this season!) which is horrid. Alec Burks scored nine points off the bench for them with the three other Sixers that appeared off the bench going scoreless. Yeesh.
I think I hear Philadelphia's team bus already idling outside the arena in anticipation of Sunday's matinee (1, ABC) beatdown on national TV. I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the fastest games in NBA playoff history. After the Sixers get eliminated and BU alum Brett Brown is fired (since this is all his fault, haha right) shortly after that, perhaps he can be hired to be a monorail conductor at Disney World. It's been a minute since my last trip to Disney, is that still a thing? Needless to say, other than getting the sweep (which as I noted above is basically a given), the only thing the C's should worry about is keeping everyone healthy. I doubt the final score will be close so it would certainly help to get the starters out ASAP with Toronto (also up 3-0 on hapless Brooklyn) on deck for what should be a hell of a series, far from this waste of everybody's collective time and energy during a pandemic.
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