By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Boston Celtics rallied from 17 points down to beat the Brooklyn Nets, 114-107, while the Philadelphia 76ers survived the Toronto Raptors to go up 3-0, 104-101, in the ongoing 2022 NBA Playoffs.
After being down for most of the three quarters, Boston put up one valiant fightback to stun Brooklyn and sweep the first two games on their home court.
Boston held Brooklyn to just 42 points the whole second half and outscored them 29-17 in the final canto led by their supreme defensive tenacity.
Jaylen Brown took over in the second half for Boston and poured in 22 huge points, six assists, and four rebounds while superstar Jayson Tatum scored five crucial Celtics points on his way to 19 points and 10 assists.
The Celtics’ defense was suffocating in the second half as they forced Kevin Durant into tough single and double coverages every time he caught the leather.
Durant committed six turnovers in the game, an unusual stat for the six-foot-nine sniper and also shot poorly from the field, 4/17.
Kyrie Irving was also silenced by the Boston defense and only converted four of his 13 total attempts and turned the ball over twice.
Meanwhile, Joel Embiid saved the day for Philadelphia after burying a turn-around three-pointer from the left elbow with 2.6 seconds left in overtime.
The 76ers were playing catchup in the first three quarters and equalized the game in the fourth courtesy of a James Harden offensive explosion.
Philadelphia’s newly-acquired superstar backstopped Embiid with 19 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds to help his squad move one win away from clinching an Eastern conference semifinals ticket.
Toronto’s Precious Achiuwa had the chance to put pressure on Philadelphia and prevent overtime but missed both of his free throws with 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
In the other game of the schedule, the Chicago Bulls upset the Milwaukee Bucks, 114-110, to tie the series at 1-1.
DeMar DeRozan was waxing-hot from the field and outdueled Giannis Antetokounmpo with 41 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
