After being down four starters, the Boston Celtics had a gutsy win over the Philadelphia 76ers 106-99 on February 8.
Going into this game Al Horford (right knee swelling) and Robert Williams III, who sprained his left ankle during Monday’s win over the Pistons, were both ruled out. Marcus Smart who has missed the last eight games because of a right ankle sprain was also ruled out for the game. No timeline has been set yet for the return of Smart.
The Celtics got off to a slow start in the first quarter turning the ball over on two straight possession, but Blake Griffin got the offense going by scoring three straight 3-pointers. Boston had a lot of sloppy plays on offense, as they had five turnovers. The Boston Celtics did finish the quarter shooting 6/10 from beyond the arc, and they had a three-point lead over the 76ers 30-27.
A scary moment happened late in the second quarter as Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum crashed into each other trying to get an offensive rebound. Brown got hit in the face by Tatum’s elbow, and Brown was ruled out for the rest of the game with a facial contusion.
In the second half, the 76ers were putting up a fight, as they brought the lead down to three with three minutes left into the fourth quarter. With the momentum swinging toward the Sixers, the Celtics drew up an alley-oop play for Luke Kornet with 0.5 seconds left in the shot clock. With 30 seconds left to play Jayson Tatum hit a floater to put the 76ers away.
It was raining 3s for the Boston Celtics in TD Garden
The Celtics finish this game by making 19 3-pointers, and they also shot 54% from beyond the arc. Blake Griffin was a catalyst as he made five 3-pointers. We also might have seen the return of Sam Hauser, as he made all four of his 3-pointers.
Grant Williams and Derrick White combined for seven made 3-pointers. The only player who had a poor shooting night was Tatum. Tatum got the job done in other ways by playing great defense, grabbing rebounds, and finding his teammates open on the 3-point line.
The Boston Celtics won by overcoming injuries
This was a great win for the Celtics as they were down four starters, and the 76ers have won nine of its last 11 games. Joel Embiid was causing trouble for the Cs as he finish the game with 28 points, and James Harden had a quiet game scoring 26 points.
The Celtics had to rely on its bench players, and they didn’t disappoint at all. The question now becomes how many games will Brown miss.
If the examination tells us Jaylen Brown will be out for some time will this force the Celtics into making a trade for a backup at the trade deadline?