PHILADELPHIA — Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ 102-92 win over the Sixers in quickie form.
HEADLINES
Unlikely heroes lead Celtics to first win: Kyrie Irving (21 points) and Al Horford (17 points) may have led the Celtics on the scoresheet, but the real catalysts of the road win came from the second unit. Terry Rozier (14 points), Shane Larkin (10 points) and Jabari Bird (+12 in plus/minus) were part of a bench mob that rallied the C’s from a nine-point deficit in the second half. Without them, Irving and Horford wouldn’t have had the opportunities late to close the door on the crucial win.
The refs were brutal: A combined 54 fouls by both teams (46 of which came in the first three quarters) sucked the life out of this game for the first three quarters. Both offenses were not executing (shooting well under 40 percent early) but the problems were exacerbated with ticky tack foul calls that rightfully earned the ire of both squads. The quality of basketball was not pretty until the fourth quarter, but the refs did not allow either squad to gain any kind of a rhythm with their questionable whistles all night.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics were flirting with disaster midway through the third quarter, trailing 61-53 in front of a raucous Wells Fargo Center crowd with the offense sputtering. With J.J. Redick and Jerryd Bayless lighting up the C’s from 3-point range, Stevens called on Jabari Bird (who is a call-up on a two-way contract) remaining to help Boston shut down the perimeter shooters. The second-round pick held his own, playing the next 12 minutes of action while limiting Redick to four points in that span. The unlikely combo of Bird with Larkin (8 fourth-quarter points) gave the Celtics the momentum they needed to turn the game around and help the starters finish the job to walk away with a road win.
SECOND GUESS
I would say half of the officials’ calls tonight could have been rightfully second-guessed so let’s go with that. Have I mentioned how bad the officiating was Friday night?
TWO UP
Shane Larkin: How do crunch-time minutes sound for the third-string point guard? Larkin breathed some life into a stagnant Celtics offense in the second half with his outside shooting and strong pace. He even handled the ball a bit during crunch time over Irving and produced open looks.
Terry Rozier: His consistency on the offensive end is really shining through. He’s really starting to finish those wild drives that ended up with reckless shots last year. Outside of a terrible finish to the first half (putting up a shot with 15 seconds left instead of holding for last shot) the preseason progress we’ve seen from Rozier has translated well.
TWO DOWN
Semi Ojeleye: One game after showing some issues with remembering play calls, the second-round pick was the only active Celtic that didn’t see minutes off the bench on a night the C’s were desperately searching for bench help for the better part of three quarters.
Refs: OK, that's enough complaining about the refs. They belong in this category though.
INJURIES
None
TOP PLAY
No idea how Jaylen Brown got this one to fall.
Uno de los canastones de esta noche de Jaylen Brown con los #Celtics pic.twitter.com/fHJo9dpOgE
— Fran Merino NBA (@FranJMerino) October 21, 2017