Tatum's 27 points help Celtics spoil Embiid's MVP coronation, take series lead over 76ers

Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Jaylen Brown had 23 and the Boston Celtics spoiled Joel Embiid's MVP coronation, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 114-102 Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

Embiid had 30 points and 13 rebounds in his second game back from a sprained right knee after receiving his MVP trophy in a pregame ceremony.

The Sixers pulled within five on De'Anthony Melton's 3-pointer to get the crowd back into the game for all of 20 seconds before Malcolm Brogdon countered with a 3 to give Boston a 100-92 lead. Al Horford crushed the Sixers again — as he has most of his career — when he buried a 3 for a seven-point lead.

Embiid, forced to try and win it alone without any serious offensive helped, missed a pull-up 18-footer and Tatum drained a jumper that all but put the game away. Tatum hit one more 3 for good measure and the Celtics seized control of the series.

JT with the