4 takeaways as Celtics beat 76ers in Game 3 after crunch time heroics

Story by

Story by
4 takeaways as Celtics beat 76ers in Game 3 after crunch time heroics

Brian Robb · MassLive

Sat, Apr 25, 2026 ·

4 min read

About Our Ads

The Celtics took back control of their first-round series against the 76ers with a gritty 108-100 victory in Game 3 on Friday night.

Boston went back-and-forth affair for nearly the entire second half but an 8-0 run with five minutes remaining in regulation gave the visitors a bit of separation with a seven-point lead.

The Sixers climbed back within a point with two minutes remaining in the game, but the Celtics closed out the game with a 9-4 surge, including clutch 3-point makes from Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard to help put the game away in the final minute of regulation.

Boston now has a 2-1 series lead over the Sixers with Game 4 looming on Sunday night in Philadelphia .

Tatum led the way for the Celtics with 25 points and seven assists, including 11 in the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown also added 25 points and seven rebounds in the win. Payton Pritchard bounced back from a tough Game 2 with 15 points (five 3-point makes) while Nikola Vucevic played his biggest minutes as a Celtic, posting 11 points and six rebounds off the bench in 31 minutes.

Tyrese Maxey finished with a game-high 31 points in the setback for the Sixers, leading six Philadelphia players finishing in double figures.

All eyes now turn to the status of Joel Embiid ahead of Game 4 as he inches closer to a making his series debut.

Here are four takeaways from the Celtics’ win on Friday:

Celtics bench comes up big:After the entire group struggled for much of Game 2, Boston’s reserves bounced back in a big way in Game 3. Pritchard knocked down four 3s in the first three quarters before knocking down a huge one in crunch time. Boston’s entire second unit outscored the Sixers bench 23-4 in the first half, which allowed the team to pick up Boston’s struggling starting unit in the first half. Boston’s reserves outscored the Sixers 35-14 in the victory.

Foul trouble leads to surprise switch at center:Neemias Queta was only able to play seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, which led to Joe Mazzulla making a surprise adjustment to begin the second half. Nikola Vucevic got the starting nod over Queta for the first time all season after intermission in an attempt to keep Queta out of more foul trouble. Vucevic had his most productive performance of the postseason with 11 points and three blocks but also had a costly four turnovers and some defensive miscues late in his in his 31 minutes. Queta finished with six points in 13 minutes. How Mazzulla handles this rotation moving forward is worth watching.

Derrick White ’s shooting woes continue but he comes up big late:The starting guard entered Game 3 having shot just 31.8 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from 3-point range in the series. He missed nine of his first 12 shots on Friday night, including a brutal 1-of-8 stretch from 3-point range. Joe Mazzulla stuck with the guard for big minutes despite his shooting woes but his struggles remain a surprise concern for Boston in this series against a high powered Sixers backcourt. However, his offensive rebound in the final minute set the stage for Tatum’s dagger to put Boston up by six points with 25 seconds remaining.

Celtics overcome uncharacteristic turnover night:Boston was the best team all regular season long at taking care of the ball. However, the pressures of postseason basketball forced them into several uncharacteristic mistakes. A steady flow of poor passes and offensive fouls led 17 turnovers for Boston, a mark they hit just seven times during the regular season. Those giveaways helped the Sixers get going in transition and keep Philly in the game all night despite Boston’s hot shooting night from 3-point range. The Celtics did not turn over the ball though in the final five minutes of regulation, which helped them escape with the win.

More Celtics content