Brown, Tatum lead Celtics over Philadelphia, 116-95

Barring the delicious idea of a playoff series between these two, the Celtics saved some face last night.

Denied the services of the knee-hobbled Kemba Walker at least for the short term, the Celtics beat their highly-esteemed division and conference rival with last night’s 116-95 win over Philadelphia. It was the Celtics’ first and only win in a regular season series that thus ended with Philadelphia holding a 3-1 edge.

Jayson Tatum started it off with 12 of his 25 points in the first quarter. Jaylen Brown finished it off with flair, twice victimizing Philly’s young stopper, Matisse Thuybulle in an explosive 11-point third on the way to a 32-point performance that was two points shy of his career high.

The Celtics have now won seven of their last eight games, and last night had little trouble with Joel Embiid. The Sixers center was perfect from the line at 9-for-9, but ineffective from the field, where he was 1-for-11 as the low end of an 11-point, five-rebound evening.

Al Horford, in foul trouble, was 4-for-11 from the field in a nine-point, nine-rebound night.

Brown was brilliant in an 11-point third quarter performance, as Thybulle could attest, helping stake the Celtics to an 86-67 lead by the end of the quarter.

Perhaps it was inevitable that the Celtics would ease off the accelerator a bit, for that’s exactly what happened  early in the fourth, with Shake Milton scoring seven of Philadelphia’s first nine points. His drive, following a 3-pointer, cut the Celtics lead to 15 points with nine minutes left.

But Tatum, after hitting two free throws, buried a corner three over Embiid, who clanked a 3-point attempt down the other end. Smart subsequently converted from the lane, pushing the Celtics lead back up to 20 points at 96-76.

Philadelphia answered with a 7-0 run, Smart snuffed it with an eight-foot rainbow from the lane, and just under a minute later Brown up-faked his way into a 10-footer for a 100-85 lead. Brad Wanamaker stole the ball and coasted for a transition dunk with 5:05 left, forcing another Philadelphia timeout.

Wanamaker followed that with his second 3-pointer of the night for a 105-85 edge with 4:42 left.

Tatum and Brown, with a respective 16 and 14 first half points, filled the Walker void in a steady way in a game that took on more of a defensive tone as it went on, with the Celtics leading at halftime, 59-51.

Offense was more of a Philly problem, as evidence by Embiid’s low-volume 1-for-4 half.

And when Horford left with his fourth foul early in the third, it was in the midst of a quarter-opening 6-0 Celtics run for a 65-51 lead.

Embiid interjected from the line, and the Celtics extended the run to 12-2 for a 71-53 lead, with Brown capping the effort when he picked the ball from Simmons and drove for the transition dunk.

It didn’t take long for the Celtics to reach their first 20-point lead from there, with Smart scoring four straight points, including a drive for a 77-57 edge.

Brown put up a highlight when he shook off Matisse Thybulle – Philadelphia’s much-touted rookie defender – with a behind the back crossover for an 83-62 Celtics lead with 2:14 left in the quarter.

He came back with 48.3 left in the quarter to victimize Thybulle again, this time with a dunk and a free throw for an 86-66 lead.

Tatum scored nine straight Celtics points in roughly a minute and a half, including a 3-pointer, after Brown scored the team’s first five, also including a 3-pointer.

Celtics youth, in Walker’s absence, clearly had its eyes on the rim from the start last night.

Tatum’s scoring spree triggered a 15-2 run that also included a blow-back drive past Simmons for a dunk over Horford, followed by a Smart 3-pointer.

The run was good for a 22-8 lead, before Philadelphia began to regroup and hit some free throws.

Wanamaker had a particularly pleasing moment when, being chased down by Embiid, the point guard dunked. He also drew a technical foul for flexing.

But the Celtics, in a good place, exited the first quarter with a 32-19 lead.

The Celtics scored seven of their first nine points in the second from the line, with Tobias Harris bagging Philadelphia’s first 3-pointer in the same stretch, lifting the Sixers to 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.

Furkan Korkmaz made an inroad with the team’s second bomb, this time cutting the Celtics lead to 46-36 with 5:16 left in the half.

The Celtics responded with a 5-0 run that included a Tatum 3-pointer, but Simmons scored the first four points of a 6-0 Philly run that briefly cut the Celtics lead to eight points (53-45).

Philly ultimately cut it back to that margin by the half on Simmons’ eighth point of the quarter, leaving the Celtics with a 59-51 halftime lead.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2OlkKST