Philadelphia 76ers drop confetti after buzzer beater, lose game in overtime

May 5 (UPI) -- The Philadelphia 76ers mistakenly dropped confetti on the home crowd Saturday, thinking a buzzer-beating jumper was a 3-pointer to beat the Boston Celtics.

But officials awarded the Sixers two points for the shot, sending the game to overtime. Philadelphia ended up losing 101-98 and now trails 3-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Sixers trailed the Celtics 89-87 with 1.7 seconds remaining in Game 3 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Ben Simmons threw an inbound pass into Marco Belinelli to his right. The veteran shooting guard caught the feed and immediately fired up a fade-away from the corner.

His buzzer-beating attempt sank through the net and the crowd went wild, thinking the Sixers won the game. Officials immediately ruled that the shot was worth two points, tying the game at 89-89 and prompting overtime.

But arena staff opened up the confetti floodgates, pouring the celebratory agent all over the home crowd.

Belinelli scored 12 points and had four rebounds and three assists in the loss. Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 22 points and 19 rebounds. Jayson Tatum had 24 points to lead the Celtics.

Game 4 of the Eastern Conference showdown is at 6 p.m. Monday in Philadelphia.