PHILADELPHIA – For the first time in nearly two full years, South Philadelphia was home to a playoff game on Friday night. And while the crowd brought its best for 47 minutes and 35 seconds, the final 25 seconds were dominated by folks wearing green.

The Sixers trail the Boston Celtics in this first-round seven-game series, 2-1, after Tyrese Maxey's outstanding second half proved to be just short of what it was going to take for a second consecutive upset victory. Maxey was inefficient in the first half and VJ Edgecombe struggled mightily from the field, while Paul George had issues scoring inside the arc and the Sixers' depth was outpaced by Boston's role players.

It was a genuinely valiant effort from the Sixers on both ends of the floor, but against a team as good as Boston, the Sixers have to come close to playing a perfect game to win. The Sixers were short of that, and the Celtics made just enough big-time shots down the stretch to escape. Jayson Tatum, not even a year removed from rupturing his Achilles, iced the game when he buried an end-of-shot-clock triple with 25.3 seconds left on the clock. The shot was only available to him because the Sixers failed to box out Derrick White when a defensive rebound would have given them a chance to tie the game. Ultimately, the Sixers just made a few many too mistakes when their margin for error was incredibly slim.

Takeaways from the Sixers' heartbreaking 108-100 defeat:  

A tougher challenge for Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe

In the Sixers' Game 2 win, their star guards carried them through the race and across the finish line. Edgecombe was the best player on the floor over the course of the entire game, and Maxey authored an epic barrage of late-game buckets to shake off an inefficient start and put the game away.

Boston's excellent defense, predictably, seemed to have a better plan this time around. Maxey and Edgecombe did not play their best games, but neither player seemed to have a whole lot of freedom playing off the dribble. The Celtics played terrific point-of-attack defense, whether it was White, Jordan Walsh or Tatum, whose defensive assignment was switched to Edgecombe as Boston moved pieces around.

In the first half, Maxey and Edgecombe each took 13 shots. They only scored seven combined baskets. Maxey, in particular, seemed to be limited by what the Celtics were doing defensively. Every time he came off a screen, he would try to navigate his way into the paint and end up being stonewalled by whichever big Boston had dropped into the paint.

Finally, Maxey got going in the second half; his terrific heater in the middle of the third quarter put the Sixers in front. He looked far more comfortable shooting from beyond the arc on Friday than he did in either of the first two games of this series, which bodes extremely well for the Sixers. Maxey's right finger injury has severely limited his long-range shooting, and that has made it easier to contain his drives. Perhaps this can give Maxey more comfort playing like his usual self moving forward.

But against Boston's defense, that will not be easy, even while acknowledging his history of success against White, one of the best guards defenders in the league whose foot speed is just not in the same realm as that of Maxey. The Celtics arguably have more high-caliber options to defend Maxey than any other team in the Eastern Conference, and their pick-and-roll coverages looked a whole lot more effective for much of Friday's game.

A roller coaster at center

For as long as Embiid is out, a heavy focus will be placed on his two backups.

While Embiid's absence was disappointing after his initial doubtful listing, it sounds like he is inching closer to playing. What held him back from playing on Friday? He is "just not ready yet," Nurse said, but added that the former NBA MVP has gotten "pretty intense" on-court work in, both against coaches and teammates. Ideally, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse would be able to simply choose between Drummond and Bona for spot minutes in each half. But for at least one more game, both players were essential.

In the first two games of this series in Boston, it has been a mixed bag from Drummond – an ineffective showing in Game 1 and a helpful performance in Game 2 – and it was a bag full of brutal Bona minutes.

Bona's early minutes in this series have been particularly nightmarish, but Nurse decided to stick with him as his starting center. One minute into this game it felt like more of the same was coming. Bona had a quick goaltending violation, then followed it up with a moving screen. But finally, Bona settled in. His opening stint turned out to be quite impressive; he scored six points, grabbed three rebounds and had an emphatic swat to earn a standing ovation as he checked out.

Drummond came in to relieve his mentee, and it did not go well. Boston had old friend Nikola Vučević on the floor, and one of the longest-tenured stretch fives in the NBA is a brutal matchup for Drummond, whose lack of mobility can be exposed against five-out offenses. That is exactly what happened on Friday: time and time again, Drummond's inability to get out to the perimeter and recover to contest shots at the rim harmed the Sixers defensively. After Boston's stunning shooting struggles in Game 2, the Celtics had no such issues in Game 3 – and Drummond's weakness as a defender exacerbated the issue for the Sixers.

Bona returned to the game, and it swung the tenor of it in the Sixers' favor. The home crowd loved his hustle plays emotional responses to blocks. He had a tremendous swat that sprung the Sixers in transition, where Edgecombe threw down a thunderous slam:

But with three minutes left in the first half, Bona set yet another moving screen, giving him three personal fouls. Drummond checked back in, and after the Sixers trimmed Boston's lead to two points, the Celtics made a late push to add additional breathing room heading into the locker room. In the second half, Nurse leaned heavily on Drummond – every time Bona made a miscue, he turned to the end of the bench and summoned the veteran, who ended up closing the game. Drummond knocked down both of his attempts at corner threes, but was otherwise really struggling.

Depth discrepancy dooms Sixers 

Much has been made of the coaching matchup in this series, with many believing that Nurse is outmatched going up against Coach of the Year favorite Joe Mazzulla. Mazzulla's recent track record is considerably more impressive. But it at least worth mentioning that Mazzulla has so many more options at his disposal than Nurse – and it was evident all night long on Friday.

As should have been expected, Nurse scrapped Dominick Barlow from his rotation, going with an eight-man group that included Justin Edwards. Edwards has been better in the series so far and is a considerably better fit for what the Sixers need against this Boston team: wing defense and three-point shooting. 

The first half said it all: 23 bench points for Boston vs. only four –and just one made shot – from Sixers reserves. Quentin Grimes, perhaps because Maxey and George have been so assertive since this series began, has had next to no role offensively. The closest thing the Sixers have to secondary scoring is George, but most of his offense these days comes from spot-up three-point shooting.

Meanwhile, Boston is armed with not just two star wings capable of scoring 40 points on any given night, but also several fear-inciting three-point shooters – including two backup centers who must be respected from beyond the arc – and a slew of multi-positional defenders. Mazzulla gave Nurse a different look by putting Tatum on Edgecombe and swapping two other assignments. It is nothing groundbreaking, but it is the sort of option Nurse does not have right now. He is boxed into the current situation he is in, with very few levers available to be pulled.

Up next: Game 4 between the Sixers and Celtics will be on Sunday night.