Celts' Jayson Tatum hits winner; Embiid's 70-foot heave ruled late

PHILADELPHIA — When Jayson Tatum's stepback 3-pointer fell through the net at Wells Fargo Center with 1.3 seconds to go in Saturday night's thriller between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, it looked for all the world like he'd just won the game for the Celtics.

As it turned out, Tatum did — but just barely.

As Joel Embiid caught the ensuing inbounds pass, his 70-foot heave hit nothing but net at the other end — but it came a split-second after the final buzzer sounded. Instead of sending this game to overtime, it somehow made what became a 110-107 loss for the hometown 76ers even more frustrating.

«I don't care,» Embiid said when asked if it was almost worse that his shot went in late. «It didn't count. But I guess it's a good highlight for everybody, social media and all that stuff.

»But it didn't count, and we lost the game. It's frustrating losing these types of games, especially when you're winning by so much. It's frustrating."

Embiid was spectacular all night, finishing with 41 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in just under 40 minutes for Philadelphia (39-20). But that didn't stop the 76ers from losing for a third time in three meetings with Boston this season. That, coupled with Boston holding a three-game lead in the loss column with 23 games to play, severely hurt the 76ers' chances of catching their blood rivals in the standings.

The Sixers blew a 15-point lead Saturday night, letting the Celtics back in the game during a 23-3 run that spanned the final few minutes of the third and opening minutes of the fourth.

For Boston, the memorable moment from the night was Tatum stepping up and burying that stepback 3. It wasn't the prettiest of nights overall from Tatum, who finished with 18 points on