It’s always fun when the Philadelphia 76ers come to town.
The Boston Celtics earned win No. 46 on Tuesday night thanks to a big second half, but it was Philly who came out of the gates firing, quieting a TD Garden crowd that was eager to witness the latest installment of this bitter rivalry.
New 76er Buddy Hield got it going from three, hitting a pair of long-range shots and setting up Tobias Harris off a nice cut for the and-1 layup. Philadelphia looked to attack off the dribble early, opening up a slight lead before the Celtics settled in and closed the gap.
Blink against Boston and you’ve given up a 12-0 run, which is exactly what happened thanks to the Jays and Kristaps Porzingis.
Derrick White propelled this mini-run on the defensive end with a whopping three blocks in the first six minutes. For virtually any other player in the league, that would be a wildly impressive feat.
For Derrick White, it was just another Tuesday.
The Cs hunted mismatches for Porzingis through the high-post, which continues to be a highly effective strategy. Posting up the Unicorn has been the single most effective action in the league this year, and that passed the eye test early on in Tuesday’s contest.
Porzingis finished the opening quarter with seven points while Tatum and Brown also contributed, but the score was tied at 30 apiece thanks to Tyrese Maxey, who racked up 12 of his own. Neither squad was particularly effective from behind the arc in the first, and each team racked up 18 points in the paint. Across the board it was relatively even, although Boston was sloppier with the ball.
Mazzulla opened the second quarter with a matchup zone, giving Philly a bit of trouble on that side of the floor. However, the Sixers managed to stay afloat in the non-Maxey minutes, as Nick Nurse threw a bunch of different bodies out there looking for answers offensively.
Turnovers continued to be an issue for the Cs, and Philly made them pay for it. The 76ers rapidly racked up the points, opening up a slim lead thanks to a barrage of buckets off of offensive rebounds.
On a positive note, The Jaylen Brown Show continued in the second, as he repeatedly punished Philly in the paint.
Brown finished the half with a game-high 18 points, as Tatum and Porzingis combined for 21 to help give Boston a slim 53-51 advantage at the break. Maxey continued to lead the way for Philly with 17, and five separate members of the Sixers’ bench racked up at least three points.
Boston’s rebounding improved to close the half, but the true disparities that allowed their opponent to stay in the game came in the turnover and three-point shooting departments. The Celtics racked up an ugly nine giveaways, while the 76ers played a relatively clean half with just two. From behind the arc, Boston only made two triples — which was tied for their second-fewest in a single half so far this year — compared to Philly’s seven long-range buckets.
Whatever Joe Mazzulla said in the locker room at halftime got through to his players, because the Celtics jumped out to a 13-0 run to open the third quarter. Boston’s offensive fluidity was obviously improved, but the defensive intensity really spiked to power the run.
Brown eclipsed the 20-point mark a couple minutes into the second half and Porzingis took over from there, punishing the rim on a couple of occasions.
The Celtics attacked relentlessly both in transition and out of half-court sets, and that was reflected in the free throw disparity between the two squads. At the end of the third, Boston was an efficient 26-29 from the charity stripe, compared to Philadelphia’s meager 8-9.
On paper, almost everything worked for the Celtics in the penultimate quarter. However, the lack of three-point shooting — only 4-15 from long range compared to the Sixers’ 11 triples — capped Boston’s offensive upside. Nonetheless, the Cs opened up a double-digit lead at 86-75 with 12 minutes left to play.
The Sixers came out punching to open the fourth thanks to the respective efforts of Cam Payne, who hit a couple of threes to bring his squad within two points. It looked like the Celtics were going to pull away after their strong close to the third, but they failed to take advantage of that opportunity initially.
This time, it was Tatum who took over to steady the ship. The MVP candidate got to the line a couple of times and converted a tough finger roll in transition to widen his team’s lead once again.
A massive 16-0 run midway through the fourth shut the door for good, as the Sixers ran out of counterpunches.
When it was all said and done this one looked like a blowout. The Celtics won 117-99 to extend their win streak to a season-high nine games, despite only hitting five threes in the entire contest. Brown led the way with 31, while Tatum wasn’t too far behind with 29 and Porzingis racked up 23.
Next up, the Celtics continue their home stand against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
