For three quarters, the Philadelphia 76ers(19-29) were riding high against the Boston Celtics(35-15); they led by as many as 26 points and took a 14-point lead into the fourth quarter. However, the Celtics took over in the fourth as they outscored the 76ers 38-16 in the final quarter and won 118-110 on Sunday night at Wells Fargo Center.
After winning four straight, the 76ers, again without Joel Embiid(knee) and Paul George(pinky), have lost two in a row.
Boston shot 68% from the field in the fourth, including 8/12 from deep. Conversely, the 76ers, who shot 50% from the floor after three quarters and were 14/25 from three, went cold as they shot only 28% in the final stanza, including 1/7 from deep.
Tyrese Maxey scored a team-high 34 points, including five threes, extending his streak of 30-point games to a career-high five consecutive contests. However, he says he didn’t do a good job of getting everybody involved in the fourth.
“We didn’t do a good job offensively they were doubling me every action; I didn’t do a good job of sometimes trusting it and trying to give the ball up early and let my teammates make the plays,” he said. “Defensively, I think they ended the third and really hurt us. We went zone for a little bit and hit five threes very quickly. Come out in the fourth, and once they’re hot, they’re hot. Once you have to start helping on [Jayson] Tatum and [Jaylen] Brown on drives, that’s what [Derrick] White, [Jrue] Holiday, and [Sam] Hauser, that’s what all of them are there for. They don’t want you to help; once you have to start helping, it makes it very difficult.”
Both the 76ers(five starters) and Celtics had five guys in double figures.
Guerschon Yabusele, who had 21 points on Sunday, says Boston found their rhythm, and the 76ers had no answers.
“They were making those tough shots at the end of the third quarter and the fourth quarter, and they got going like that,” he said. “For like three, four, five possessions, they came back and got their rhythm back and it was hard for us to contain them, and we didn’t find a great solution on offense. They came back, and they got the lead, and we still tried to fight to still try to get the lead and win the game.”
Jayson Tatum, who scored 13 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth, with seven rebounds and 11 assists, credited Boston’s head coach, Joe Mazzulla, who Tatum said challenged the team at halftime.
“We just had to be honest with ourselves at halftime, they had 20 points in transition, our competitive spirit wasn’t where it need to be,” he said. “Joe [Mazzulla] was like, ‘Yo if you’re tired just tell me, I’ll sit you guys down let you stay ready to play’. We just had a choice to make, and it was a long third quarter, it didn’t go our way right away, just had to keep fighting, but it brought the best out of us, that’s how we’re supposed to play, it took a little bit from everybody. Our competitive joy was there on both ends, and it was just fun to be a part of it.”
The 76ers’ last two losses were quality losses, especially without Embiid and George. Philadelphia fought to the end against Denver on Friday night and against the Celtics on Sunday. Now, moving forward, they have to find ways to get over the hump.
