Keys to the Game: Celtics 101, 76ers 98 (OT)

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The Boston Celtics needed a last-second bucket followed by a last-second stop Saturday night if they had any hope of coming away with a Game 3 win in Philadelphia.

Remarkably, the C's pulled off both feats, and it was Al Horford who came through on both ends of the floor to help them capture an overtime victory and a 3-0 advantage in their second-round series against the 76ers.

First, Horford got the job done on the offensive end.

Boston was trailing 98-97 with 8.4 seconds left in overtime and was inbounding the ball at mid-court following a timeout. Horford was being guarded by Joel Embiid near the top of the key, but Horford was able to lose his big-man counterpart on a switch that forced the much-smaller Robert Covington to defend him.

Marcus Morris, the inbounder, saw the mismatch and delivered a perfect pass over the top of Covington’s outstretched arms, straight into the hands of Horford who laid the ball in with ease to give Boston a one-point lead with 5.5 seconds left.

Boston knew, however that this game was far from over. Just a few minutes earlier at the end of regulation, the C’s allowed Marco Belinelli to tie the game on a fadeaway 2-pointer to send the game into overtime.

This time, Boston’s defense would have to lock in even more. So, that’s exactly what it did.

After taking a timeout, Philly put the ball in the hands of Simmons to make the inbound pass from mid-court. Simmons locked his eyes on Joel Embiid, who was making his way from the paint to the top of the 3-point arc, and delivered the dish.

However, Horford was glued to Embiid's side the whole way and was able to stick his right arm out to make an incredible steal. Once Horford got both hands on the ball, Embiid wrapped up his counterpart for his sixth foul, disqualifying him for the remainder of the game

Horford went on to make both attempts from the free-throw line, setting Philly up for another last-second prayer with 3.0 seconds left.

With no timeouts remaining, Simmons was forced to make a full-court inbound pass. This time, he delivered it perfectly to Belinelli, who looked to be the hero again. However, Belenelli’s long-distance, Hail-Mary heave caromed off the back rim, and Boston walked away with an exhilarating, 101-98 win.

Jayson Tatum now stands alone.

With a game-high 24 points Saturday night, Tatum became the first Celtics rookie ever to score at least 20 points in five straight postseason games, passing Larry Bird's former record of four.

Tatum was deadly from 2-point range, knocking down 10-of-13 from inside the arc, while also hitting one shot from deep.

But the rookie didn't just score the ball; he was also Boston's top distributor, dishing out a team-high four assists. On top of that, he had a strong effort on the boards, pulling down five rebounds.

And we haven't even gotten to Tatum's most remarkable feat yet: He had a plus-24 rating in a game that was decided by just three points. That means Boston outscored Philadelphia by 24 points when he was on the floor, and was outscored by 21 points when he was on the bench.

It's clear that Tatum was by far the most effective player on the court Saturday night, and having him make history in the process was just the cherry on top of Boston's Game 3 win.

Marcus Morris on Brad Stevens drawing up the game-winning shot.