Celtics 108, Sixers 100

 

With the Bruins obviously going nowhere in the playoff and the Red Sox off to a historically horrific start, a weary Beantown turns it's eyes to the legendary Celtics and all those championship banners hanging in the TD Garden. And the Celtics deliver, giving the fans a hard-fought but decisive 108-100 victory in Philadelphia.

The Sixers, for their part, never gave up in the game and kept coming back at the Celtics again and again. However, the Celtics never gave up either, and successfully fought back each successive Philly assault. When the smoke finally cleared, both J's, Brown and Tatum, had 25 points. Pritchard, as per his style, scored all 15 of his points on threes. Vučević came alive with 15 points, same as White, along with six rebounds and three blocked shots. 

Meanwhile, Tatum's 25-point playoff performance tied Nikola Jokic in number of 25-point playoff games.  He joined John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, and Larry Bird with 3,000+ Celtic playoff points. He also joined Bird and LeBron as the only three players in NBA history to have 3,000+ points, 1,000+ rebounds, and 500+ assists in the post-season. From here on in, every game he plays and every point he scores puts him in ever more rarified air.  

The Celtics take a 2-1 lead in the series. Game 4 is in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Boston in five.