Celtics defeat 76ers in a classic thriller
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PHILADELPHIA (PSF)- The Boston Celtics narrowly defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 110-107 on Saturday night. They once trailed by 15 points in the third quarter. Jayson Tatum had 18 points in the win, including the game-winning three-pointer.
On the game-winning play, the ball was inbounded at half-court to Marcus Smart with 5.9 seconds left. He bounce-passed it to Tatum, who took a dribble drive and then did a crossover stepback on De’Anthony Melton and hit the three.
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Shortly after, Joel Embiid heaved a one-handed full-court shot that went in but was after the buzzer. He took a dribble before shooting it. If he had just shot it right away, I think there’s a good chance it would have been in time. Embiid said after the game, “I wish I would’ve shot it sooner, but as I turned, I saw Derrick White there, so I couldn’t really get it off. So I had to go back to my right side... story of my life.”
That is certainly one of the greatest shots in recent NBA history that has not counted. That would have been quite the sequence at the end if Tatum hit the three with 1.3 seconds left to go, and then Embiid made a one-handed full-court shot right after to win the game. It was certainly a wild end to the game, even with Embiid’s shot not counted.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics in scoring with 26 points. Derrick White also added 18 points. For the 76ers, Joel Embiid led in scoring with 41 points. The Celtics had a field goal percentage of 50 percent, and the 76ers shot just under 45 percent. Boston also shot 43.2 percent from three-point range compared to Philadelphia’s 34.6 percent. In addition, the Celtics only shot 12 free throws and made eight, while the Sixers shot 35 free throws and made 28.
Photo by Michael Leff/Getty Images
Photo by Michael Leff/Getty Images
The Celtics are still in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 44-17 record, 0.5 games ahead of the Bucks. This is their third straight win. The 76ers are in third place in the East with a 39-20 record, four games behind Boston. The next game for the Celtics is Monday night at the Knicks. The next game for the 76ers is Monday night against the Heat.