PHILADELPHIA -- Stray thoughts and observations from the airport after the Celtics pulled out a huge win over the Sixers on Tuesday night without Kyrie Irving.
1. It's going to be tough to top Jayson Tatum's dunk: I didn’t get to watch the replay until well after the win but on a night when Tatum played stellar basketball on both ends of the floor (20 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, two blocks) he put together a sequence that will be hard to top again (LeBron dunk notwithstanding) with his third-quarter throwdown on Ben Simmons.
TATUM ? pic.twitter.com/kuokndUjeT
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 13, 2019
Joel Embiid
Micah Shrewsberry
Danny Ainge
2. Celtics did a hell of a job containing Philly’s shooters: J.J. Redick
Brad Stevens
Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown
Terry Rozier
Tobias Harris
Jimmy Butler
Elton Brand
3. Brett Brown should probably play T.J. McConnell more against the Celtics:
4. Marcus Smart’s hot streak is over but his shot selection hasn't caught up with that reality:
5. This one meant a little more than usual for Boston:
Brad
Stevens
Al Horford
Marcus Morris
Kyrie Irving.