Tyrese Maxey praises specific Celtics strength after Game 3 loss

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Tyrese Maxey praises specific Celtics strength after Game 3 loss

Souichi Terada · MassLive

Sat, Apr 25, 2026 ·

3 min read

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PHILADELPHIA — The Celtics showed the 76ers exactly why playoff experience is so valuable when it comes to a crunch-time game. While the C’s endured lulls and turnovers, they still came away with the Game 3 victory over the Sixers on Friday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

They leaned on their two stars in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to close out the victory. Brown stabilized the middle portions of the fourth quarter, then Tatum was the closer. Tyrese Maxey praised the Celtics for their moxie and what he noticed about their experience.

“Down the stretch, they don’t get too high, too low,” Maxey said. “It’s certain plays, but they all know what they’re doing. They all know what they’re trying to get to. They have that chemistry. They know what’s going on. (Derrick) White knows when he needs to go set the ball screen. Payton Pritchard knows when he has to do this. All of them, man.”

Maxey bounced back after a tough first half, where he shot just 3-for-13 in the opening two quarters. But he took over in the second half, scoring 22 of his 31 points after the halftime break. Maxey was a huge reason why the Sixers clawed their way back into the game Friday.

It was far from a perfect effort from the Celtics. They committed 17 turnovers, including six from Brown. While Boston made 3-pointers early, the offensive lulls in Game 3 allowed Philadelphia to get back into the game. That set the stage for the first clutch game of the series after a pair of double-digit finishes in the first two games.

“That’s what it comes down to: All your preparation and stuff comes down to those moments,” Brown said. “Both teams are tired. Your team is maybe offensively in a little bit of a rut. You’ve got to figure out how to get a basket. You’ve got to figure out how to create some momentum for your team, and I feel like I did just enough to shift things in our favor.”

The Celtics didn’t shy away from how important Game 3 was. They were upset in Game 2 at TD Garden, losing home-court advantage. It’s why Brown wanted his team to be dialed in for their first road playoff test of the season.

The Celtics showed their championship mettle Friday on the road. The Sixers crowd lived up to the hype and delivered a hostile environment. But by the end of the night, C’s fans happily put together a “Let’s Go Celtics” chant right before the final buzzer.

“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.”

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