Tatum, Brown spark Celtics past 76ers 114-102 in Game 3

PHILADELPHIA(AP) — Scrambling for a loose ball late in the fourth quarter andthe outcome of Game 3 still in the balance, Grant Williams wasaccidentally stompedface-first into thecourtby Joel Embiid’s wayward foot.

Much like theCeltics after their Game 1 debacle, a bloody, shaken Williamsabsorbed the beating and came back to help stick it to the suddenlyshaky 76ers.

“That waskind of nasty,” Celtics guard Jayson Tatum said.

So, too, iswhat the Celtics have done to Embiid, James Harden and the rest ofthe Sixers while seizing control of the series.

Tatum scored27 points, Jaylen Brown had 23 and Boston spoiled Embiid’s MVPcoronation, beating Philadelphia 114-102 Friday night to take a 2-1lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Game 4 isSunday in Philadelphia.

Williamsdidn’t score a point in 23 minutes, but his toughness in shakingoff the sneaker to the back of his head symbolized the way Bostonhas continued to fight after a Game 1 embarrassment.

“I was like,’Dang, I really got curb-stomped,’” Williams said. “I’m justthankful he didn’t like fully just lean his weight onto it. Hedefinitely got me pretty badly. But then I think he felt that helanded on something, so he picked his foot up. It hurts a littlebit.”

Embiid had 30points and 13 rebounds in his second game back from a sprainedright knee after receiving his MVP trophy in a pregameceremony.

Boston gave76ers fans little reason to cheer again.

The Sixerspulled within five on De’Anthony Melton’s 3-pointer to get thecrowd back into the game for all of 20 seconds before MalcolmBrogdon countered with a 3 to give Boston a 100-92 lead. Al Horfordcrushed the Sixers again — as he has most of his career — when heburied a 3 for a seven-point lead.

Embiid,forced to try and win it alone without any serious offensive help,missed a pull-up 18-footer and Tatum drained a jumper that all butput the game away. Tatum hit one more 3 for good measure and theCeltics won their second straight.

“We just heldthe ball too long, too much,” Embiid said. “We don’t start ouractions fast enough. That’s why it looks so slow. We’re not scoringthe ball. We’re not making shots.”

Embiid wasflanked by his parents and teammates as he received the MVP trophyfrom NBA Commissioner Adam Silver before Game 3. Sixers fans roaredas Embiid hoisted the trophy high over his head. Then the momentturned touching. Embiid’s young son, Arthur, ran onto the court andinto the arms of his father.

Embiid held his son,who wore a “My dad is the MVP” T-shirt, and wiped tears from hiseyes as fans chanted “MVP! MVP!”

“Honestly,he’s the main reason why I’m really here,” Embiid said. “Becoming afather really changed my whole life. I just wanted to show him agood example.”

The goodtimes didn’t last long.

Boston spikedany emotional carryover from the ceremony and raced to a quick10-point lead.

The Sixersspent the rest of the game playing catch-up. All the energy spentto come back and take brief leads quickly evaporated and theCeltics snagged them right back.

Embiid gamelytried to carry the Sixers on one good knee, but got almost no helpfrom Harden and Tyrese Maxey. Harden’s 45-point effort in a Game 1upset in Boston seemed more an aberration than a sign of things tocome. Harden followed his 2 of 14 in a Game 2 loss with 3-for-14shooting for 16 points.

Harden’s5-for-28 shooting the last two games is theworst for him over anytwo-game spanin his career, regular season or playoffs,in which he’s attempted at least 20 field goals.

“We’re justtrying to make him work as much as we can,” Celtics coach JoeMazzulla said. “Trying to keep him off the free-throw line. Guysare just working to take away those details.”

Harden failedto pick up the Sixers in the third, when he could have changed thegame.

He did hitP.J. Tucker for a 3 that pulled the Sixers to 74-72. Harden thenmissed two straight jumpers and fouled Brown on a tough layup.Brown made the free throw and the Celtics were back up byeight.

Harden oddlypassed up plenty of easy looks and layups and also committed fiveturnovers.

Embiid hadscored 53 points against the Celtics in an early-April matchup, butcould never get cooking in Game 3. The Celtics double-teamed Embiidfrom the jump and he looked gassed by the end of the third. Withouta teammate he could trust to make shots, Embiid took the scoringload on himself and scored 12 points in the third when he playedthe entire quarter.

“I didn’t getthe ball enough,” Embiid said. “Not to score, but also to makeplays for my teammates. They had a tendency of doubling quite a bittonight, so I thought we could have used that to our advantage.When we did, we also missed a lot of wide-open 3s.”

TIP-INS

Celtics:Tatum added 10 rebounds. ... Boston 16 of 45 3-pointers.

76ers: Made12 of 12 free throws in the first quarter. ... Made 16 of 373s.