This was ugly. But it was a win.
And the reason why it ended up being something other than a head-scratching Sixers victory was because Kemba Walker reminded us all why this whole thing doesn't work without him.
Walker finished with a team-high 24 points, including a key jumper in the final minutes to seal the Celtics' 102-94 win over Philadelphia. On the surface, the numbers wouldn't be eye-popping. It's about what the guard is supposed to produce. But this time every bit of it was the reason the C's hold a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. (For a complete box score, click here.)
Simply put, Friday night wasn't exactly resume-builders for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. And without Gordon Hayward, such a dynamic would usually seem like a death knell.
Tatum was 6-for-19 from the floor (15 points), never seemingly finding any rhythm after picking up three first-quarter fouls. And while Brown was somewhat effective on the way to netting 21 points, going 1-for-5 from beyond the three-point stripe tempered some of his impact.