On Sunday, the Boston Celtics had a golden opportunity to go up 3-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers.
They fell behind by 15 late in the third quarter, but they made a late run that sent the game into overtime.
There, Boston looked to be poised to win the game, but James Harden hit a clutch 3-pointer, leading to a 116-115 loss.
Celtics star Jaylen Brown was uncharacteristically quiet down the stretch, and after the game, he admitted he needs to ask for the ball more in crunch time.
"I guess I got to demand the ball a little bit more."
Jaylen Brown on only taking 3 shots in the 4th quarter pic.twitter.com/IQPXsdoMzj
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 7, 2023
Statistically, Brown played well, scoring 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, but when the game is on the line, it is up to him and Jayson Tatum to deliver victory for Boston.
Tatum, in particular, has come under fire for not playing up to his standards in big playoff games.
In last year’s NBA Finals, he did very poorly, shooting just 36.7 percent from the field as the Celtics lost in six games to the Golden State Warriors.
Other than in crunch time on Sunday, Brown has played solid ball in this series versus the 76ers, and in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, he was excellent, as he scored over 30 points in each of the last three games.
Boston now faces essentially a best-of-three series, although they will have the home-court advantage by virtue of their 114-102 win in Game 3.
Game 5 will take place at TD Garden on Tuesday, and the team that wins that contest may very well go on to win the series.
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