Jayson Tatum says he's not at his best yet. He sure looked the part for Boston in a Game 3 win

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jayson Tatum let his final 3-pointer fly — a dagger, in NBA parlance — and the rip of the net could be heard on the other side of the court.

Tatum pounded his chest in a pure adrenaline rush moment for the big bucket that quieted the crowd, crushed the hopes of a 76ers' late run, and was a crunch-time reminder that the six-time NBA All-Star is as close to elite as he was before a ruptured right Achilles tendon cost him the bulk of the regular season.

Tatum cautioned after the Celtics beat the 76ers in Game 3 of their first-round series that, no, he's not 100% back in his recovery.

Not yet, at least.

He could have fooled the Sixers.

With a little help from his longtime partner and fellow NBA champion Jaylen Brown, Tatum scored 25 points and played 42 minutes in the Celtics' 108-100 win on Friday night for a 2-1 series lead. Tatum made 5 of 9 3-pointers and combined with Brown to score 19 of the Celtics’ 29 points in the fourth quarter.

“It may not seem like it because I'm back playing, but it was a very, very long time for me not to be doing what I love to do," Tatum said. “I can't stress it enough, the fact that I just get to put my uniform on and run out there with the team is a win for me.”

Boston had a pretty big W, too, and rebounded from a surprise Game 2 loss at home that injected a dose of confidence into All-Star Tyrese Maxey, rookie standout VJ Edgecombe to rip back home court in the series headed into Sunday's Game 4 in Philadelphia.

Tatum returned for the final 16 games of the regular season and averaged 21.8 points and shot 41% from the floor. He scored 25 points in Boston's Game 1 rout and had 19 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in the Game 2 loss.

Celtics fans — Tatum raised his arm in celebration toward a small pocket of them near the visitor's tunnel — want Tatum to be Tatum, like, now. Especially if the Celtics are going to win a second NBA title under coach Joe Mazzulla. Mazzulla, Tatum and the Celtics know there's still a process to follow in this comeback and perfect health won't be found in the first round of the playoffs.

Tatum was carried off the floor with a ruptured right Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the Celtics’ Eastern Conference semifinals loss to the Knicks last season. Surgery the next day thrust him into a nearly 10-month rehab.

It ended on March 6 with his season debut. Tatum hasn't said how close he is to 100% but — yeah, it's close.

“Expectations of what people want me to do is the last thing that has crossed my mind,” Tatum said. “The amount of joy I've been able to find, and being out there with my teammates is all I can think about.”

Philadelphia played again without center Joel Embiid for Game 3 as he continues to ease his way back into practice following an appendectomy on April 9.

Maxey scored 31 points and teamed with Paul George and Edgecombe to keep the Sixers afloat in front of a raucous home crowd that included Allen Iverson and Julius Erving.

Fans were already on their feet when the Sixers brought the ball down in the fourth and roared when Maxey let a 28-footer fly and hit it for an 85-84 lead.

Tatum and Brown — who also scored 25 points — are just too experienced, too talented, too cool in the clutch to let a little crowd noise and the pesky Sixers rattle them.

Brown scored eight straight points late in the fourth for a 96-92 lead and moved past Robert Parrish and Bill Russell and into seventh place on Boston's career playoff scoring list with 2,695 points.

“No moment is too big,” Brown said. “Big-time players make big-time plays.”

That wasn't lost on Maxey, the first-time Eastern Conference All-Star starter who has gamely tried to carry the Sixers in Embiid's absence.

“Down the stretch. They don’t get too high or too low," Maxey said. "They all know what they’re trying to get to. They’ve been together for a while. In our case, you've got to fight like hell and push them to the limit.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey, right, tries to get past Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum during the first half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday, April 24, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum, right, goes up for a shot past Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. during the second half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday, April 24, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum, left, tries to get past Philadelphia 76ers' Adem Bona during the second half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday, April 24, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum celebrates with teammates after the Celtics won Game 3 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday, April 24, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum reacts after scoring during the second half of Game 3 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday, April 24, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

NEW YORK (AP) — The roller-coaster ride for AI stocks is snapping lower again Tuesday and weighing on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% even though the majority of stocks within the index rose. The drops for stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry dragged the Nasdaq down 1.2%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 107 points, or 0.2%.

The weakness began in Asia, where Samsung Electronics tumbled 6.9% in Seoul. The tech giant gave a preliminary look at its performance for the second quarter, and the numbers were strong. Samsung Electronics said it expects to say its operating profit surged roughly 1,800% from a year earlier.

Analysts called the numbers surprisingly good, but they still weren’t enough for investors after its stock came into the day having well more than doubled in the year so far.

On Wall Street, AI stocks have been under similar pressure in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high and that AI may not produce enough productivity and profits to make all the investments in chips and data centers worth it.

Micron Technology fell 7.8% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. Nvidia sank 1.4% and was just behind Micron in influence. Because the AI boom has made it the largest stock on Wall Street by value, a 1.4% move for Nvidia has more effect on the S&P 500 than a similar move by any other company.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, fell 6% in its first trading after getting included in the Nasdaq 100 index.

Outside of tech, Vertex Pharmaceuticals fell 2.3% after saying it agreed to buy Crinetics Pharmaceuticals for $85 per share in cash. Crinetics, which develops therapeutics for endocrine diseases, soared 98.8%.

Stocks also generally felt pressure from a rise in oil prices after the British military said a tanker traveling in the Strait of Hormuz was struck by a projectile and caught fire.

Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault. That upset hopes that the war in Iran may be winding down and that the Strait of Hormuz may fully reopen to oil tankers bringing crude to customers worldwide from the Persian Gulf.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.7% to $73.94.

Higher oil prices put upward pressure on inflation, and Treasury yields climbed higher in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.51% from 4.48%

High yields worldwide have been rattling investors after oil prices burst above $100 per barrel earlier in the summer because of the war. The worry is that high inflation may force the Federal Reserve and other central banks to hike interest rates. High rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 4.9% because Samsung Electronics alone makes up more than a quarter of the index.

Other Asian indexes also fell, including a 2.1% drop for Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, while European indexes were mixed.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Michael Pistillo, left, and Federico DeMarco work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Michael Pistillo works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

After ringing the opening bell from the White House, United States President Donald Trump is seen on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)