Jaylen Brown gives surprising Celtics perspective after Game 3 win

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Jaylen Brown gives surprising Celtics perspective after Game 3 win

Souichi Terada · MassLive

Sat, Apr 25, 2026 ·

3 min read

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PHILADELPHIA — The Celtics are just a few games into what they hope will be a deep playoff run. But they still dropped Game 2 on their home court to the 76ers , meaning they lost home-court advantage. While the C’s have had prior success bouncing back from an early home loss, success is far from guaranteed in the playoffs.

It’s why Jaylen Brown gave a surprising Celtics perspective heading into Game 3 in Philly. Brown was pivotal to close out the 108-100 Celtics victory Friday at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The C’s took the 2-1 series lead and snatched home-court advantage back from the Sixers.

“This was like a Game 7 for us,” Brown said. “Even though this is a long series, we definitely wanted to come back and respond after dropping one on our home floor. Can’t lose two games in a row in the playoffs, it’s tough. So this was a big win for us.”

Sixers fans create a hostile environment — especially when it comes to the Celtics . It doesn’t matter that the C’s have won the last six playoff series between the two division rivals. 76ers fans will make their presence, which lived up to the billing Friday.

Considering the C’s are a younger squad compared to past seasons, Brown prepped his team on what to expect. Still, all the warnings can’t compare to the real thing. But the bench stepped up in a big way Friday to help secure the victory. Then Brown and Jayson Tatum were Boston ’s closers to slam the door on Philadelphia.

“It was about responding,” Tatum said. “Responding from Game 2 and how we played in that one and wanted to play better. We still had 17 turnovers and a lot of ugly possessions. Obviously, there was possessions where we figured it out and made plays to win the game, but just on both sides of the ball, there’s a lot of things that we can learn from.”

The Celtics needed every shot to fend off a Sixers comeback down the stretch. That’s where Brown and Tatum stepped up. Brown scored or assisted on 10 straight Celtics points to put the C’s ahead. Then it was Tatum time. Tatum sunk two crowd-silencing 3-pointers to send the Sixers crowd home with a loss.

It was the type of victory that showed just how much playoff experience the Celtics still boast. Sure, they’re not as deep with veterans like the past couple playoff runs. But the core remains intact with Brown and Tatum leading the way. The two have been the most successful duo in the NBA this decade for a reason.

“Our team is still a young team, so this experience was great,” Brown said. “It’s great to get these experiences and win. But like when you get hit, you just got to respond. … Most importantly, just stay together through the adversity. But you get hit, you got to hit back.”

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