Final: Celtics 112, Sixers 109 -- Huge performances by Horford and Hayward carry C's

PHILADELPHIA -- The Celtics put together their first road win over a .500 team since November on Tuesday night, fighting off a second half rally by the Sixers to come away with a 112-109 win. Al Horford (23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals) was the star of the night in conjunction with Gordon Hayward, who tied a career-high with six made 3s on his way to 26 points off the bench. The visitors led by as many as 10 in the first half thanks to a stellar defensive effort against Philadelphia's new-look starting five but they couldn't hold down the hosts for long as they stormed back at the start of the third quarter.

Boston righted the ship at the end of the frame with a 21-10 run, while Jayson Tatum (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Marcus Morris (17 points) chipped in with big buckets in a back-and-forth fourth quarter to help Boston pull out their fourth straight road win. The victory gives Boston a win in the season series against the C's as well with a 3-0 edge with just one game remaining.

Second Quarter Notes

• Gritty D continues for the C's, except for when TJ McConnell is in the game. He also seems to be a thorn in the side of the C's and he helped lead a 10-0 run to erase Boston's first half edge.


• Horford continues to match minutes with Embiid and has been Boston's best player on both ends, limiting Embiid to a couple first half buckets while scoring 13 of his own.


• Rozier/Smart did a great job chasing around Redick and keeping him out of rhythm.


• Tatum struggled out of the gate in the half but came around with three second quarter buckets as C's found him in better spots.


• Morris continues to knock down open 3s.


• Sixers aren't getting out in transition, have missed open shots and can't get much going in the halfcourt.


• Brett Brown has leaned heavily on his second unit early and that has not produced a lot of good offense for his guys. Jonathan Simmons has been particularly bad with a few passes while unforced turnovers have been everywhere for C's.


• Some rough shot selection for Rozier/Brown at points in the quarter. They will need to clean that up for C's to pull off this win.

• Celtics open the game up with a lot of postups, trying to target JJ Redick and other cross matches in their favor.


• A concerted effort to get Al Horford the ball early as well, who responds with a couple jumpers and a nice post up.


• Celtics' starters far more engaged early on the defensive end. Great communication, good help defense, particularly by Jayson Tatum, who flew in for a couple weak side blocks.


• Daniel Theis first off the bench for C's with Hayward to have Horford's minutes match up more with Embiid


• Morris really got his midrange jumper going, going 4-of-6 with eight points and five rebounds in opening 10 minutes.


• Gordon Hayward showed a nice outside touch, knocking down his first two 3s and drew a charge on defensive end.


• Terry Rozier with a couple iffy shots in the midrange per usual.

• The Celtics will be going for their fourth straight road win, but none of those have come against quality opponents (New York, Atlanta, Cleveland). Boston has beat just one team with a record above .500 (Oklahoma City) on the road this season.


• Kyrie Irving is out with a sprained knee. His status moving forward is uncertain heading into the Pistons game on Wednesday night back in Boston. More analysis on how C's match up without him here.


• This will be the third game for Philadelphia since their blockbuster moves at the trade deadline. They are 2-0 since acquiring Harris and have averaged 130 points per game in their two wins.


• Boston leads the season series 2-0 over Philly with the final two games coming in Philadelphia during the next month. A win on Tuesday night for Boston would clinch a playoff tiebreaker.