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 three-pointer to get the crowd back into the game for all of 20 seconds before Malcolm Brogdon countered with a three to give Boston a 100-92 lead. Al Horford crushed the Sixers again — as he has most of his career — when he buried a three 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 three for good measure and the Celtics seized control of the series.

Embiid was flanked by his parents and teammates as he received the MVP trophy from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver before Game 3. Sixers fans roared as Embiid hoisted the trophy high over his head. Then the moment turned touching. Embiid's young son, Arthur, ran onto the court and into the arms of his father.

Embiid held his son, who wore a "My dad is the MVP" T-shirt, and wiped tears from his eyes as fans chanted "MVP! MVP!"

"Honestly, he's the main reason why I'm really here," Embiid said. "Becoming a father really changed my whole life. I just wanted to show him a good example."

The good times didn't last long.

Boston spiked any emotional carryover from the ceremony and raced to a quick 10-point lead.

Embiid gamely tried to carry the Sixers on one good knee, but got almost no help from James Harden and Tyrese Maxey. Harden's 45-point effort in a Game 1 upset in Boston seemed more an aberration than a sign of things to come. Harden followed his 2 of 14 in a Game 2 loss with 3-for-13 shooting for 16 points.

Harden failed to pick up the Sixers in the third, when he could have changed the game.

He did hit P.J. Tucker for a three that pulled the Sixers to 74-72. Harden then missed two straight jumpers and fouled Brown on a tough layup. Brown made the free throw and the Celtics were back up by eight.

The odd thing for the 76ers was this, Harden also passed up plenty of easy looks and layups. He also committed five turnovers.

Embiid had scored 53 points against the Celtics in an early-April matchup, but could never get cooking in Game 3. The Celtics double-teamed Embiid from the jump and he looked gassed by the end of the third. Without a teammate he could trust to make shots, Embiid took the scoring load on himself and scored 12 points in the third when he played the entire quarter.

Booker, Durant power Suns past Nuggets in Game 3

Devin Booker scored 47 points, Kevin Durant added 39 and the Phoenix Suns beat the visiting Denver Nuggets 121-114 on Friday night to cut Denver's lead to 2-1 in their Western Conference semifinal series.

The Suns will try to even the series in Game 4 on Sunday in Phoenix.

The Suns took a 90-88 lead into the fourth quarter, retaking the lead after the Nuggets erased a 15-point halftime deficit. Phoenix scored the first nine points of the fourth — including the final two on Durant's fastbreak dunk — to push their advantage to 99-88.

They wouldn't trail in the fourth quarter.

Denver's Nikola Jokic — who finished second in the MVP voting on Tuesday to Philadelphia's Joel Embiid — finished with 30 points, 17 assists and 17 rebounds.

Canada's Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 32 points, while Michael Porter Jr. added 21 points and 12 rebounds.

The Suns had a 67-52 halftime lead, but coughed up that advantage in a hurry. Murray made a layup to give Denver a 79-78 lead with about five minutes remaining in the third.

Suns coach Monty Williams also shook up the bench rotation, giving Terrence Ross, Jock Landale and TJ Warren more minutes. Landale finished with six points and nine rebounds, while Warren hit a couple crucial buckets in the final minutes to help the Suns keep the lead.

Booker scored 27 points in the first half on 12-of-15 shooting to push the Suns ahead 67-52 by halftime. Durant added 21, including 11 points on free throws.