PHILADELPHIA — Jayson Tatum played the role of closer Friday night, drilling two clutch 3-pointers in the final two minutes to help the Boston Celtics win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.

Boston committed 17 turnovers and struggled to hold leads throughout the night, but it left Xfinity Mobile Arena with a 108-100 victory and a 2-1 series lead thanks to late-game heroics from its top stars.

Jaylen Brown and Tatum scored 19 of their 50 combined points in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics hold off another upset bid by Tyrese Maxey and the Sixers. Brown sparked the C’s final rally, and Tatum finished it by hitting a 3 with 1:57 remaining, assisting on one by Payton Pritchard and then burying the game-sealing triple with 27 seconds to play.

Derrick White, who endured his third straight brutal shooting game (3 for 12; 1 for 8 from 3), set up Tatum’s final shot with one of his three offensive rebounds.

“I thought we competed,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Obviously, 17 turnovers, 13 offensive rebounds, miscommunications. But I liked our competitiveness. I liked our poise. I liked how we just stuck with it.”

Maxey scored a game-high 31 points on 12-of-31 shooting, but Game 2 standout VJ Edgecombe struggled, going 5 for 17 and 0 for 7 with two costly fourth-quarter turnovers.

Game 4 is Sunday night in Philly.

The 76ers again were missing star center Joel Embiid, who has not played since undergoing an emergency appendectomy on April 9. The 2023 NBA MVP has made progress in his recovery, participating in portions of Philadelphia’s practice on Thursday, but was “just not ready” to return, according to head coach Nick Nurse.

Initially listed as doubtful, Embiid was ruled out roughly two hours before tipoff. Every other player on both teams was available.

Seconds after tipoff, White awkwardly collided with an Adem Bona screen while pursuing Maxey. The top of his head drilled Bona’s chest, and the Celtics guard crumbled to the court, holding his neck.

In visible discomfort, White stayed in the game for another four-plus minutes before checking out. He briefly retreated toward the Celtics’ locker room during the game’s first timeout, then returned to the bench, pressing a large towel to the back of his neck. White avoided a serious injury, however, and was back in before the end of the first quarter.

The Celtics led 29-24 after a tight opening period. The Sixers commanded the paint in the first, outscoring the Celtics 12-4 in the lane and putting center Neemias Queta in early foul trouble for the second time in three games. Boston got off to a much more efficient start from beyond the arc, however, making seven of its first 16 3s while Philly started 2 for 9.

Four of those Celtics triples came from their bench: two apiece from Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic. Tatum and Brown provided the other 3 in an unusually active first quarter for Boston’s superstar duo.

Mazzulla often plays Tatum or Brown for the entire first quarter, but rarely both. In this game, Brown went wire-to-wire, and Tatum played the first 11:32.

Boston inserted Baylor Scheierman and Luka Garza to begin the second quarter, and both made immediate impacts. Scheierman and Garza each hit a 3-pointer and grabbed an offensive rebound to set up another in their first few minutes of floor time.

The Celtics shot 43% from deep in the first half while also attempting more field goals and grabbing more rebounds than the 76ers. Despite those statistical edges, they led by just two before closing the half on a 7-2 run to go ahead 54-47. Turnovers prevented Boston from extending its lead, as did a lack of production inside the arc. The Sixers attempted eight more first-half free throws (10-2), and two of the Celtics had just six 2-point makes before their final push to end the second quarter.

Brown led Boston in both points (11) and turnovers (four) before halftime, two of which came on offensive fouls. He followed up one of his giveaways with a chasedown block on Paul George and also drew two whistles while fighting through illegal screens.

Boston’s momentum was short-lived. A 12-0 run midway through the third quarter put the Sixers up 67-64. Ten of those points came from Maxey, including a go-ahead 3-pointer over Tatum. The other two came after Vucevic — who started the second half in place of Queta — vacated the paint on a driving dunk by Bona.

Queta subbed back in at the 7:02 mark and drew three fouls in the ensuing four minutes, including a technical foul Andre Drummond received for elbowing the Boston big man while they battled for a rebound.

Pritchard followed with clutch 3-pointers to send Boston into the fourth quarter with a 79-74 lead. The Celtics also blocked three of the Sixers’ final four shots of the third, with Jordan Walsh, Brown and Vucevic all rejecting layups.

That lead didn’t hold, either. After Maxey and Vucevic traded 3-pointers, the Celtics botched two entry passes for their 15th and 16th turnovers of the night. Philly capitalized on both; Maxey nailed another 3 after the second to reestablish an 85-84 lead.

The Sixers had trouble handling Brown’s physicality from that point forward — stole a Maxey pass, leading to a White layup, then scored eight straight Celtics points — but Boston struggled to generate stops at the other end. Philadelphia scored on seven consecutive late-game possessions, nearly all of them on plays at or near the rim. Vucevic was on the court for all seven. But Maxey missed his final three attempts, and the Celtics held on to win.

Despite his late-game defensive lapses, Vucevic played arguably his best game of the series, finishing with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks. His 31 minutes were the most he’s played since his February trade to Boston. Pritchard and Walsh both finished as plus-18s off the bench.

“Credit to everybody,” Mazzulla said. “Everybody that played tonight made a winning or a big-time play.”

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