Deja vu? Not this time.
For the second time in two conferences, the Celtics squandered a double-digit second-half lead in opposition to the 76ers on Friday night time at Xfinity Cell Enviornment. However in contrast to in Philadelphia’s season-opening road win at TD Garden, Boston was capable of survive in a thriller.
The Sixers rallied from 24 factors all the way down to tie the sport halfway via the third quarter, then lower a 10-point deficit with three minutes remaining to 1 within the ultimate seconds. Boston botched two inbounds performs with an opportunity to ice the sport and missed three late free throws — together with two by Josh Minott with 3.8 seconds to play — however Joel Embiid was unable to get a shot off on the ultimate possession, permitting the Celtics to hold on for a 109-108 victory.
The victory was Boston’s third straight, pulling Joe Mazzulla’s squad again to .500 after an 0-3 begin. It was the primary lack of the season for the 76ers, who fell to 4-1. It additionally gave the Celtics a 1-0 report in NBA Cup group play, as this was the opening sport of the in-season event for each groups.
“Simply grit,” Jaylen Brown instructed Amazon Prime sideline reporter Cassidy Hubbarth after the sport. “I feel we simply thugged it out. We made a bunch of errors, however we discovered a approach to win ultimately.”
Brown was liable for a few of these late miscues, with a missed foul shot and the final of his 5 turnovers giving Philadelphia life within the ultimate moments. However he completed with a game-high 32 factors on 13-of-19 capturing, six assists, three rebounds, one steal and one block to guide the Celtics.
Boston’s backcourt trio of Payton Pritchard, Derrick White and Anfernee Simons supplemented that scoring with a mixed 49 factors, whilst Pritchard and White continued to wrestle from 3-point vary. Simons additionally was a plus-23 in his 29 minutes, headlining a powerful all-around efficiency by the Celtics’ bench. All six C’s reserves who noticed the ground completed as a minus-1 or higher; all 5 of their starters had been minus-3 or worse.
Philadelphia received 26 factors, 14 rebounds and eight rebounds from Maxey, 17-5-5 from rookie standout VJ Edgecombe and 20-4-6 from former NBA MVP Joel Embiid, who was much more impactful than he was within the groups’ first assembly on Oct. 22.
The Celtics will host Kevin Durant, Ime Udoka and the Houston Rockets on Saturday (8 p.m.) within the second finish of a back-to-back.
Brown and Pritchard had been surgical within the first quarter Friday night time, going an ideal 10-for-10 on 2-point pictures and flooding the Sixers with robust midrange makes.
Pritchard’s 3-point shot — his best asset throughout his Sixth Man of the 12 months marketing campaign — has but to materialize this season, however he’s been extremely efficient contained in the arc, and never simply on drives to the rim. He entered Friday capturing 77.8% on pictures from 3-10 ft and 66.7% on 10-to-16-foot jumpers, per Basketball-Reference.
The Celtics deployed the identical beginning lineup for the third straight sport, persevering with to roll with Josh Minott after his sturdy outings in opposition to New Orleans and Cleveland. The night time began off effectively for Minott, who grabbed an offensive rebound on the opening possession and drew the robust task of guarding Maxey, however his two fouls on Embiid within the first 5 minutes earned the younger wing a seat on the bench and an earful from Mazzulla.
Minott’s early hook additionally opened extra minutes for the rookie Hugo Gonzalez, who’d logged simply 4 whole over the earlier two video games. Two first-quarter hustle performs by the 19-year-old arrange White for open 3-pointers, and Gonzalez added a transition three of his personal off a Queta block. (Minott later returned and performed 22 minutes within the win, notching eight rebounds however lacking all 5 of his field-goal makes an attempt.)
The bench participant who gave Boston the most important raise, although, was Simons, who was an influence participant at each ends. The Celtics outscored Philly by 17 factors over Simons’ 15 first-half minutes, throughout which he tallied 14 factors, went 3-for-6 from three — together with a contested fadeaway because the shot clock expired — and blocked a driving dunk by the a lot bigger Embiid.
Fueled by the manufacturing of Brown, Pritchard and Simons, the Celtics led by as many as 24 factors within the first half. However a 23-4 Philadelphia run that stretched from late within the second quarter into the third lower Boston’s result in 68-63.
Brown was on the court docket for that complete Sixers surge, and he struggled, turning the ball over thrice and lacking his solely field-goal try. The Celtics star additionally grew more and more pissed off with Courtney Kirkland’s officiating crew as Boston’s lead dwindled.
After Brown completed via contact at one finish, then was known as for a capturing foul whereas breaking apart a 76ers quick break, he barked on the refs and was hit with a technical foul for arguing. Lower than two minutes later, after one other Brown turnover, the Sixers pulled even at 72-72.
Brown responded with seven fast factors, together with a deep three and a putback, to shift momentum again towards Boston. Then, the Celtics received one other jolt of power from their bench.
Luka Garza chipped in with a midrange jumper and a nook three, each off assists from Pritchard, however these had been overshadowed by Gonzalez’s borderline maniacal hustle. In a single eight-minute stretch, the Celtics’ first-round draft decide raced for a fast-break dunk; grabbed three offensive rebounds, together with one on an inbounds move; sprinted from the alternative aspect of the court docket to contest what initially regarded like a wide-open Quentin Grimes dunk; and laid out for a unfastened ball because it rolled up the sideline.
Gonzalez completed as a plus-10 in his quarter-hour, which ended when he picked up his fifth foul — and absorbed a knee to the groin from Embiid within the course of.
A 3-pointer by fellow reserve Xavier Tillman put Boston up 105-95 with 5:15 remaining, and one other by Brown made it 108-98 with 3:11 to play, setting the stage for the frenetic end. Philadelphia by no means led within the sport.
The Celtics will play their second NBA Cup sport subsequent Friday at Orlando, then shut out group play at dwelling in opposition to Brooklyn on Nov. 21 and Detroit on Nov. 26. The three group winners and top-ranked wild card (based mostly on group-play report, with head-to-head and level differential the first tiebreakers) from every convention will advance to the single-elimination knockout rounds.
Boston certified for the quarterfinals within the inaugural In-Season Match in 2023 and in final 12 months’s newly rebranded NBA Cup, however it has by no means reached the semifinals, which, together with the championship sport, are held at a impartial website in Las Vegas. Every participant on this 12 months’s NBA Cup champion will earn a $530,933 bonus, per Entrance Workplace Sports activities, with the runners-up receiving $212,373, the semifinalists $106,187 and the quarterfinalists $53,093.
