It might not have been a work of art, but the Boston Celtics came away with a 108-100 win vs the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 3 of their 2026 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs first round series with their Atlantic Division foes. Neither team found much separation in this contest, though the Sixers punched first and held a small lead throughout most of the first frame.

Boston bounced back to take the lead in the second, but their grip never felt firm until the waning moments of the fourth quarter, the series now clearly more of a challenge for Boston that it has been vs. Philly in past playoff meetings. After the win, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla stressed that Boston will find a way to win. "I thought we competed," said the Celtics coach. "Obviously there's stuff that we can get better at."

"(We) had 17 turnovers, gave up 13 offensive rebounds, (had) miscommunications," he added. "But ... I liked our competitiveness, I liked our poise. I liked how we stuck with it."

"(We) came out of the second half, they went on a run," Mazzulla continued. "We managed that. I like our togetherness, like our poise, like our competitiveness and made plays."

"And that's what you've got to do. You've got to make plays and credit to everybody -- everybody that played tonight made a winning or big time play."

This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Mazzulla likes what he sees from Celtics in tough series vs. 76ers