MAN. Friday was really upsetting. The Sixers were right there with the Celtics most of the game, but the Celtics were just barely one step ahead of the Sixers when they needed to be most.
My prediction of both teams returning to earth after flip flopping hot and cold shooting nights in Game 1 and 2 rang true. Game 3 both teams pretty much shot at a more reasonable, average rate.
The Celtics just seemed to be a hair sharper in pretty much every phase of the game. Literally just barely. It felt like, on average, the Celtics held a six point lead throughout the entire game before winning 108-100 in the end. The Sixers, for a split second, held a one point lead in the fourth quarter but the Celtics locked in from there and kept the Sixers at bay.
V.J. Edgecombe absolutely fell off from three point range after looking excellent in Game 2. Ugh, that was unfortunately predictable as he's a rookie facing a highly proven Celtics team but man that was tough to watch.
All that being said this Game 4 is interesting. The Celtics had to really play differently it seemed in Game 3 vs the first two games. They made their adjustments and still didn't dominate by any means. Of course you're not going to dominate every game and they did get the job done which is all that matters. But all I'm saying is, if Nick Nurse can make an adjustment that's worth 10-12 points in the Sixers favor, the Sixers could maybe tie up the series.
UGH. This is about to be a really stressful game. Kelly Oubre Jr. is apparently questionable for tonight's game due to right adductor soreness (inner thigh) which is really scary as his size and all around play is seriously valuable. This injury is seemingly from playing heavy minutes since he has the proper size to matchup with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Man, big respect to Oubre Jr. no matter what happens.
Joel Embiid is doubtful but I am pretty much certain he's not playing. He just had his appendix removed. While it would be admirable, it'd probably not be smart for him to play. It might be straight up dangerous.
I can just hope that the guys play inspired in front of the home crowd and shoot lights out again! Hopefully they learned lessons in Game 3 just as they seemed to have learned lessons in Game 1.
I'm nervous but excited! At the end of the day it will be fun!
Let's tie up this series!!!