Celtics bowled over by Embiid and the 76ers, 106-96

Faced with Philadelphia big man Joel Embiid, the Celtics still don’t have an answer.

Though they clearly missed the scoring of Evan Fournier, back in the health and safety protocol, there was little evidence in a 106-96 loss to the Sixers that the Celtics have closed the gap on this Eastern Conference heavyweight.

Embiid had his way with the C’s. Rob Williams picked up three fouls in his first five minutes, added No. 4 in his eighth minute after barely stepping back on the hardwood in the third quarter, and what the Celtics had left was a bigs rotation of Tacko Fall and Luke Kornet.

The Celtics finished with 20 turnovers — Marcus Smart had trouble with the ball all night as evidenced by his game-high six throwaways — and gradually lost hold against one of the finest defensive squads in the NBA.

Embiid, who came in averaging 40 points in two games against the Celtics, dropped his number to 38.3. This time he scored 35 points, including the usual bushel of free throws (16-for-20), and considering the superb defensive job the Sixers had just turned in, it was more than enough.

The Celtics tried to make a game of it, cutting what was a 21-point Philadelphia lead to 15 (85-70) by the end of the third quarter. But Jayson Tatum (15 points, 5-for-15) was struggling from a heavy ration of Ben Simmons’ attention,  and overall the Celtics kept throwing the ball away against a superior defensive opponent.

By the time Williams had picked up his fifth foul — nailing Dwight Howard on an attempted put-back — the Philly lead had grown back to 17 with 10 minutes left.

By the time Williams fouled out with 9:46 left and the Celtics trailing, 88-72, he had only played 14 minutes. When it comes to playing against Embiid, there will be more days like this.

A sloppy first half found the Celtics trailing 59-46 at intermission.

The early damage was significant. Embiid had eight points on 3-3 shooting within five minutes, and Williams, caught out of position on the first play, was already on the bench with two fouls. Luke Kornet replaced him, and was immediately dunked on by the Sixers center.

But the Celtics actually fared well with Kornet, that early dunk aside. They led by a point going into the last 1:32 of the first, with Jaylen Brown supplying the biggest shot-making, trailed by a point (25-24) heading into the second.

Tatum heated up early in the second, with the score in a virtual tie until, with the Celtics essentially staying in this thanks to their 3-point shooting — at 7-for-14 and the game tied, 35-35, with 7:09 left in the half.

A pair of Danny Green threes gave the Sixers some breathing room, the second for a 45-37 lead, and then a third for a 50-37 edge with 3:26 left.

Fall even received some late second quarter minutes with Embiid back on the floor.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Pyxl9j