The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Brooklyn Nets, 102-97, at Barclays Center on Thursday night in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. The 76ers hold a 3-0 series lead.

The rollercoaster fittingly turned on how the final few minutes unfolded, with the 76ers (3-0) managing to ultimately atone for a disastrous third quarter. The first half had gone very well for Philadelphia, which had expanded a four-point first-quarter lead to 11 by halftime. However, the desperate Nets (0-3) outscored Philadelphia by a 35-18 margin in the third quarter to take a six-point advantage into the final period. Brooklyn still owned a five-point edge with as little as 2:15 remaining, but the Sixers' 11-1 run over the final 2:03 sealed the comeback, with a bad inbounds pass by Royce O'Neale with 6.1 seconds left snuffing out the home squad's chance for a game-tying three-point attempt. The second half included ejections of James Harden for a flagrant-2 foul against O'Neale and Nic Claxton for a second technical.

Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 25 points, adding three rebounds, three assists and one steal. Harden finished with 21 points, five boards and four assists. Tobias Harris registered 15 points, seven rebounds and one assist. Joel Embiid generated a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double that included two assists, two blocks and one steal. De'Anthony Melton turned in 13 points, two rebounds, one assist and three steals.

Mikal Bridges paced the Nets with 26 points, supplementing six rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block. Spencer Dinwiddie furnished 20 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals. Claxton posted 18 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Cameron Johnson provided 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.

The teams reconvene at Barclays Center for Game 4 on Saturday afternoon.