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Key Moment
Terry Rozier hit a driving layup with 3:34 left in the third quarter Monday evening that brought the Boston Celtics to within four points of the Philadelphia 76ers. The goal of a four-game sweep of Philly was still very much in sight for Boston at that point, until things suddenly went south.
On Philadelphia's next trip up the court, Ersan Ilyasova made a finger-roll layup and was fouled by Jaylen Brown while in the act of shooting. Brown and Brad Stevens took exception to the call, both earning technical fouls, turning the potential three-point play into a five-point play.
Ilyasova converted his free throw, and then Marco Belinelli made both of the technicals, boosting Philadelphia's 66-62 lead to a 71-62 lead in a matter of seconds.
And that was only the beginning.
The 76ers took advantage of a flustered Celtics squad and doubled their 5-0 run in roughly a minute. By the 2:05 mark of the third quarter, Philly had a 76-62 advantage and it never looked back from there, eventually cruising to a 103-92 win to force a Game 5 back in Boston.
Key Player
With their backs against the wall, the Philadelphia 76ers decided to mix up things up Monday evening in an effort to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
The 76ers replaced Robert Covington with T.J. McConnell in the starting lineup, and McConnell gave them exactly the spark they had been searching for during Games 1-3.
The 6-foot-2 guard tallied a career-high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting during 38 minutes of play, while also corralling seven rebounds, dishing out five assists and committing zero turnovers in his first postseason start.
In order to ease the pressure of his increased role, McConnell tried to just do his job as a scrapper, while not trying to do too much.
"One of our coaches told me to just hit singles, and that's what I tried to do," he said after the game.
That mentality worked wonders for McConnell, as he comfortably slid into the new role and had a career night in the process. Now, largely because of him, the 76ers are still very much alive and will head back to Boston in search of a repeat performance in Game 5 Wednesday night.
Box Score Nuggets
- Jayson Tatum scored a team-high 20 points, marking his sixth straight 20-point effort.
- Dario Saric led all scorers with 25 points. He also tallied eight rebounds and four assists.
- Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons tied for the game-lead in rebounds with 13 boards apiece.
- Both teams attempted 26 free-throw attempts. Boston made 19 and Philly made 20.
- T.J. McConnell scored a career-high 19 points during his first playoff start.
- McConnell and Simmons tied for the game lead in assists with five dimes apiece.
- The Celtics blocked 10 shots, while Philly swatted just three.
- Horford led the C's in rebounds (10) and blocked shots (three).
- The 76ers outscored the Celtics 52-30 in the paint.
- Philly scored only three fast-break points.
- The 76ers had 18 second-chance points, which was twice as many as Boston tallied.
- Marcus Morris scored just one fewer point (17) off the bench than Philly's entire second unit scored (18).
Quote of the Night
Marcus Smart's mindset heading into Game 5.