Follow usPhiladelphia 76ers ace Joel Embiid finished with 28 points, 7 rebounds and one assist but the Boston Celtics, missing three starters and losing Jaylen Brown at halftime, were able to muster a strong collective effort in TD Garden on Wednesday night to win 106-99 – their second straight victory.
Squad stepped up and got that W ☘️ pic.twitter.com/CmsRjxBD9r
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 9, 2023
James Harden had 26 points, three rebounds and 11 assists and De’Anthony Melton added 12 points but the Sixers failed to bounce back from their 108-97 loss by the New York Knicks Sunday evening.
Malcolm Brogdon and Derrick White scored 19 points each for the Celtics Blake Griffin and Grant Williams poured in 15 points each with six players recording double-digit scoring in a balanced display.
The Sixers’ starting frontcourt consisted of Williams and the seldom-used Griffin, and in-form Embiid quickly went to work on them, compiling 14 points in the first quarter — including 10 straight during one stretch.
The surprise, though, came on the other end, as Griffin and Williams put on their own little three-point shootout a little over a week before the actual thing.
They combined for five threes in the opening frame, and the Boston lead 30-27 entering the second.
The Celtics maintained a balanced offensive attack that managed to push their edge ever so slightly.
With just over two minutes to play, White connected on a pull-up three-pointer over Harden to give the Celtics a 103-97 lead.
It proved to be the dagger — Tatum attacked the basket with just over 30 seconds remaining in regulation to put the Celtics up by eight, and that was all she wrote.
The Celtics stay at home for their second consecutive national television game, hosting the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
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