Boston Celtics
Tatum scored 11 factors within the closing body, together with a dagger 3-pointer with 26 seconds left.
Jayson Tatum positive didn’t appear like he was enjoying in simply his nineteenth recreation of the season on Friday evening.
The Celtics celebrity was in peak postseason kind in Sport 3, going for 25 factors, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists. He did most of his injury towards the 76ers within the fourth quarter.
Tatum scored 11 of his factors in that closing body, forcing Philadelphia to chase the sport late. He made two 3-pointers within the closing two minutes of motion, together with a dagger that put Boston up six with below 30 seconds to play.
“I’ve been right here earlier than,” Tatum mentioned in his on-court interview after the game. “Simply the mindset of ‘do no matter it takes to win.’ Once you’re attempting to win a championship, whenever you’re attempting to compete and make a run, it may possibly look completely different each single evening. Simply give the sport what it wants, and so long as you win that’s all that issues.”
It was enterprise as traditional for Tatum within the postseason; he’s already above 3,000 profession playoff factors as of Saturday. Solely Larry Chicken, John Havlicek, and Kevin McHale have extra as Celtics, and Tatum is just 28.
Though he took a while to seek out his rhythm, Tatum is averaging 21.8 factors and 10 rebounds per recreation this season. He admitted he’s “clearly not one hundred pc but,” however his recreation is in an excellent place.
“I’ve been doing a very good job of holding issues in perspective,” Tatum mentioned. “I used to be out for such a very long time. It could not seem to be it however, I can’t stress it sufficient, the truth that I get to place my uniform on … it’s a win for me.”
After the sport, Joe Mazzulla praised each Tatum and Brown for bouncing again from the losses.
“[Their experience] exhibits up in the way you deal with playoff losses, the way you deal with a nasty recreation,” Mazzulla mentioned. “Their poise on a day-to-day foundation … having a transparent concept of what’s at stake and what’s wanted.”
Friday evening gave the Celtics a bounce-back win to take a 2-1 sequence lead over the 76ers. They’ll play recreation 4 in Philadelphia on Sunday evening at 7 p.m.
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