Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown remind Celtics fans why they're champions in Game 3

Game 3 was ugly. The Celtics were extremely sloppy with the ball, turning it over a brutal 17 times. They struggled to finish around the rim, shooting just 16-34 from inside the arc on the night. They didn’t reach 30 points in a single quarter. They gave up 13 offensive rebounds and recorded just 21 assists.

But at the end of the day, the Celtics went into Philadelphia and walked away with a gut-check, 108-100 victory, and they did it on the backs of their two superstars. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were far from their best on Friday night.

They both struggled to get going for much of the game, had some ugly turnovers, and made some head-scratching decisions. But when the game was on the line, they both rose to the occasion, turned up their games, and pulled this one out with one clutch play after another.

JT finished with 25 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists on 9-17 shooting, while JB had 25, 7, and 4 on 9-16, but it was all about what they did when the stakes were the highest.

Brown and Tatum took over in crunch time

Those stat lines aren’t anything special for either of the Jays, but in the decisive fourth quarter, with the game hanging in the balance, Tatum had 11, 2, and 2 on 4-5 shooting and 2-2 from three, while Brown put up 8 points on 3-4 shooting.

JB had a huge midrange shot over Maxey, a tough finish in traffic, a hard driving layup, and knocked down two clutch free throws. He also picked up his defense on Paul George picking up near half court, battling through countless screens, and making a huge steal that led to a Derrick White layup.

Tatum had two tough finishes inside, a big assist for a monster Payton Pritchard three to beat the shot clock, then knocked down a pair of threes in the final two minutes, including the biggest shot of the game, a dagger right in the face of Adem Bona with the shot clock winding down that put Boston up 6 with under 30 seconds to play.

Tatum and Brown have become unstoppable in the clutch

All told, the Jays combined for 19 points on 7-9 shooting with 3 assists in the fourth quarter. They scored or assisted on 27 of the team’s 29 points, with the only other scoring coming on two Derrick White free throws in the final seconds. In other words, the Jays created all the offense in the final frame.

At the end of the day, this is exactly what you want to see out of your two best players, as they showed their championship mettle. This is what was missing from the team for years when they couldn’t quite get over the hump. Crunch time was a nightly mystery.

But now, they are the two most reliable players on the floor. They’ve seen everything there is to see in the NBA, and nothing shakes them. They meet the moment, and play their best when the game is on the line. Even on a night when neither one really had it going for most of the night, they came alive and willed the Celtics to a victory. And that’s all you can ask for.

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