The Boston Celtics fell to the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night by a final score of 106-96. This game was all Sixers as the Celtics had a complete collapse in the second quarter.
The Celtics came out struggling without Fournier, starting the game off 0-for-7. Their offense was just out of sorts, and the Sixers got whatever they wanted on the offense end. They forced the Celtics to take tough shots.
The Sixers got most of their points from inside the paint and with also great ball movement. The Sixers also did a great job of drawing fouls as the Sixers were 29-of-39 from the foul line. The Celtics offense struggled, and the Sixers tough defense had a lot to do with that. The Celtics were struggling to stop Joel Embiid in the second quarter, and with Williams in foul trouble Stevens inserted 7-foot-5 big man Tacko Fall.
“Tacko did a really good job, especially somebody in his situation where you just never know exactly when you’re going to play,” Tatum said. “But you’ve always got to be ready. And I think, for him, he did a really good job in the minutes that he played.”
The Sixers went into the locker room with a 59-46 lead.
In the third quarter, the Celtics responded quickly going on a 9-0 run to start the quarter making the score 68-56 with 7:42 remaining in the thirdrd quarter. The Sixers however would quickly find an answer to the Celtics push going on a 10-0 run extending the lead 81-61 with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter.
The Sixers never cooled off from the field shooting at a clip of 46% from the field and 37% from behind the arch.
In the fourth quarter, The Sixers never seem to look back as they continued there suge. as the Sixers kept adding to their lead extending there lead to 92-76 with 7:16 to play in the fourth quarter. The Sixers would start to put this one away.
In the Final Minutes, the Sixers just kept pouring it on. The Celtics would keep turning the ball over and taking away the opportunity of a late push.
Four players for the Celtics would score in double figures. Leading the way for the Celtics was Jayson Tatum with 20 points on 7-17 shooting, Kemba Walker would add 14 points on 6-14 shooting.
“Just some careless mistakes, to be honest,” Kemba Walker said. “I can’t really explain it. At the end of the day, you’ve got to find a way to get your passes through. I think a lot of times we jumped, got caught in the air, just kind of misread some things.”
Marcus Smart would also have 14 points on 4-9 shooting. Jaylen Brown had 17 points on 6-10 shooting.
“We need to do a better job of moving, cutting, getting better baskets,” Stevens said postgame. “You can’t beat these guys in isolation. And they are very good pick-and-roll defenders because they are so long. They chase you off the screen.”
The Sixers had four players score in double figures. Leading the Sixers was Joel Embiid with 35 points on 9-19 shooting, Ben Simmons had 12 points on 4-7 shooting. Danny Green also scored 17 points on 6-7 shooting, Tobias Harris had 10 points on 4-11 shooting.
The Celtics fall back below .500 yet again at 25-26 on the season, and will take on the New York Knicks Wednesday night at 7:30 PM EST at the Garden.