1. Stumbling down the stretch
In regulation, the Sixers had the ball with under 10 seconds left, but a botched pass by J.J. Redick and the ensuing turnover led to a transition basket by Terry Rozier. However, the Sixers were saved by Marco Belinelli’s last second baseline jumper, and thus the teams entered overtime.
The Sixers weren’t so lucky in the extra period. After Al Horford put the Celtics ahead 99-98 on a go-ahead after being switched off and finding himself under the basket for a layup, the Sixers had five seconds remaining and the ball on the side to go for the win.
However, Ben Simmons’ entry pass to Joel Embiid at the top of the key was intercepted by Horford, and that was the ball game.
https://twitter.com/FanDuel/status/992916228443459584
Following Game 3, Twitter was ablaze with criticisms, particularly of coach Brown:
However, the most stinging criticism came from someone never short of a word, Stephen A. Smith of ESPN:
While these are harsh words from Smith, the blowtorch on Brown and his coaching staff is only going to be amplified if the Sixers wind up getting embarrassingly swept by the Celtics.
Next: Full two-round 2018 NBA Mock Draft
So while history is against them, the series isn’t over. However, the Sixers will need to get some important issues sorted out in a hurry if they’re going to have any chance of extending the series.