Down 26 points late in the third quarter, and in danger of suffering an embarrassing loss to the 76ers, the Celtics could have easily accepted their fate and stumbled to the finish line.
Instead, they found their mojo just before it was too late and stormed back to steal a stunning 118-110 win at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday night. The Celtics used a 39-10 extended run to spark a comeback that’s the largest in the NBA this season and tied for their third-largest in the last 20 seasons.
Jayson Tatum scored 25 of his 35 points in a dominant second half, bringing the Celtics back from the dead in thrilling and spirited fashion. He drilled a 3 in old friend Guerschon Yabusele’s face to give Boston a 101-100 lead with 6:51 remaining, and the Celtics never trailed again.
Tatum, who also had 11 assists and seven boards, also thrived as a facilitator – registering 10-plus assists in back-to-back games for the first time, per statistician Dick Lipe. He was in total command, and everyone around him followed suit.
With no Joel Embiid or Paul George, Tyrese Maxey took it upon himself to lead the 76ers. He scored 34 points, and Yabusele added 21 to carry Philadelphia. The 76ers, who shocked the Celtics on Christmas Day, nearly did it again.
The 76ers used an 18-3 flurry to build a 29-21 edge through 1. Maxey poured in 16 points in the quarter, doing damage from both beyond the arc and in the paint.
The Celtics shot 30.4 percent from the field and 25 percent from 3-point range, and Philadelphia won the battle of the boards, 16-11. Despite generating quality looks for much of the quarter, the Celtics couldn’t buy one and found themselves in an early hole.
Their struggles continued through the second quarter, as the Sixers took a 61-44 advantage into halftime. Yabusele scored seven points in the final 1:21, highlighted by a tough and-one on Jaylen Brown (21 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists).
Maxey continued to sizzle, and Kristaps Porzingis (18 points) was the only Celtic who found much of a rhythm. He finished the half with 14 points, and Tatum added 10, but no one else scored more than six.
The Celtics were 7 of 27 from 3 (25.9 percent), while Philadelphia was 10 of 19 (52.6 percent). The disjointed, pickup-like feel favored a Sixers team with nothing to lose. Philadelphia played freely, with no inhibitions, and Boston looked a step slow while also missing some shots that typically fall.
Facing a Sixers team that entered with the worst 2-point defense percentage-wise in NBA history, the Celtics shot a very respectable 7 for 15 from inside the arc in the half. But, they continued to fire away from 3 and fell for the 76ers’ trap.
The Celtics made a conscious effort to force-feed the ball into the paint in the third quarter. It worked in spurts, but Philadelphia negated that effort with its hot shooting from the outside.
A Jrue Holiday charge gave Maxey his fourth foul, but the Celtics couldn’t capitalize as Yabusele continued to dominate. The deficit ballooned to 90-64 with 2:56 left in the third, and it seemed like a lost cause. Then, the Celtics woke up.
A Derrick White steal led to a Brown layup in the final seconds of the quarter, as the Celtics trimmed the deficit to 94-80 heading to the fourth.
Tatum drilled a 3 to cut it to eight, then the 3 over Yabusele put Boston in front for the first time since it was 7-6. The Celtics preserved the lead from there, and Holiday delivered the dagger with 51.6 seconds left.
It wasn’t pretty early, but it was an inspired effort when it mattered most.
