On the night the Joel Embiid MVP Trophy was officially handed out in front of Philadelphia fans at the Wells Fargo Center, it was the Celtics who teamed to a big Game 3 win and regain home court advantage in the series.
Basketball is a five-man sport, but sometimes, it can feel like a relay race where players take the stick for 3-5 minutes. Patched together for a full 48 and you may escape a hostile environment with W.
“It’s the playoffs and we’re playing against a great team,” Coach Joe Mazzola said of his team’s even-handed approach in Game Three.
“It goes back to managing expectations. It’s just to win the game, to weather storms, to deal with adversity. Every possession is a round and an opportunity. Our only expectation is that we win at the end of the game.”
To start, it was Jaylen Brown. After James Harden scored 45 points and single-handedly won the opener without Embiid, the Browns embraced the game and since then have only hit 5 of their last 28 shots with Brown as their lead defender.
“It started with Jaylen. Jaylen picked Harden, and he made it hard for him the last two games. It really changed the whole series,” said Malcolm Brogdon.
The Browns scored just two points in the first quarter—an uncommon result after leading the team in points before the All-Star break—but stuck with Harden all night. No word yet if Brown accompanied The Beard to Vegas prior to the series.
“He’s doing a great job and we’ve been following him, not just on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end,” Al Horford said of the Browns’ early power. “He’s playing at a very high level now.”
In the second, the Browns had nine goals in the quarter, but those twelve minutes felt owned by Marcus Smart. He hasn’t quite filled the box points, but the former Defensive Player of the Year and this season’s Hustle Award winner has pulled together some Tommy Point plays to keep 76ers in the Gulf after the Celtics gave up an early double-digit lead.
The teams exchanged physical blows again after the end of the first half. Some timely three-point shots from Therese Maxie and PJ Tucker were met by Al Horford. The elite shooting big man was finishing 5-for-7 from behind the arc after making just one of his eight attempts on Wednesday night. But a giant 3s from Brodgon would have helped build an 11-point lead heading into the final frame after it was narrowed to 2.
Defensively, the star of the night was Grant Williams. Along with Horford and Smart, Williams was exceptional against MVP. Mazzola chose to throw a lot of different looks at Embiid, including more double teams and third pick-and-pop defender Harden-Embiid, but the most consistent base defense has Horford and Williams throwing at him at the high position. . Williams has found success getting into Embiid and pulling off his timing and movement. That, well, came to a head late in the fourth quarter when they were fighting for a loose ball, and a 17-three-pound Embiid stomped on the Celtics big man.
“Grant has been amazing. Grant has been down-to-earth all year. He’s been tough,” Brown said of Williams.
“He’s been a tremendous part of our team and we’ve challenged him in different ways, in his level of maturity, in the ability to play his part, in the ability to raise his level, to stop and do what needs to be done regardless of his emotions and feelings at times. You couldn’t ask for anything better.” From that. Grant is a true professional. Not to play much in the last series and now, to play more in this series and accept this challenge and put his life on the line for it and smash his head on the field and come back in with a smile on his face. That’s Grant Williams.”
And in the final minutes with the game evened out, it was Tatum’s turn to shine. He had finished the night with 27 points on 10-of-20, but saved the best for last and closed in the clutch. With the lead remaining at 7 and 3:22, Tatum hit a controversial fadeout and a three-pointer to knock out the 76ers in Brotherly Love City.
“poise.” Both Mazzola and Horford used the word to describe Tatum in a time of crunch as he carried the team and Horford over the finish line in Game 3.