Final: Sixers 118, Celtics 115 -- Shorthanded Celtics fall short in crunch time

Jimmy Butler hit a dagger with four seconds remaining, capping off a 13-5 Sixers run during crunch time as the hosts finally pulled off a 118-115 win over a shorthanded Celtics squad. Joel Embiid made a career-high 20 free throws, as the Sixers fought their way back from a 15-point deficit in large part thanks to a 43-16 edge at the free throw line. Embiid was a monster all night (37 points, 22 rebounds) and also provoked Marcus Smart into a third quarter ejection with a screen that Smart responded to with a double-handed shove. Smart was ejected and with Aron Baynes also sidelined with a sprained ankle, the Celtics were down three key rotation players in the second half.

Kyrie Irving led the Celtics with 36 points and 9 rebounds but struggled down the stretch on both ends of the floor, while Al Horford added 22 points. Terry Rozier played his best game in weeks (20 points off the bench) but it wasn't enough for Boston, which falls four full games back of the Sixers with 10 games to play in the race for the No. 3 seed.

Smart ejected

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  • Marcus Smart starts off the second half with a bang, responding to an (arguably) cheap pick by Joel Embiid with a two-handed shove to his back. Both guys were separated and Smart was handed a flagrant 2, which results in an automatic ejection. With Baynes already ruled out with a sprained left ankle for the game, C's down to six of their top nine players.
  
  
  
  

Marcus Smart sent Embiid flying!pic.twitter.com/MPVQcgGfIk

— Sporting News (@sportingnews) March 21, 2019

• Kyrie comes up firing out of the gate, scoring 10 points in the first five minutes.


• C’s really targeting Embiid in switches, forcing him to match up against Kyrie a couple of times, which produced open 3s


• Kyrie opens up defending Harris and holds his own in the post early


• Sixers with some nice ball movement of their own, producing offensive rebounds as C’s rotate (three offensive rebounds by Harris)


• Baynes gets some early minutes in place of Horford so he can match up with Embiid for a bit


• All five Celtics on the board in the first five minutes.


• Irving with a sloppy pass for Baynes early but follows it up with a good one for a dunk.


• Tatum sagging in too much for help, leaving C’s vulnerable from perimeter with Harris.


• C’s really exposing Boban early with the pick and pop. Defense does not look sharp for C’s though.


• Rozier comes off the bench red-hot, making his first five buckets, including four 3s to give C’s 15-point edge.


• Baynes rolls his left ankle midway through the second quarter and heads to the bench immediately Suffered similar injury.


• C’s shot 55 percent in the first half, with Horford (15 points), Rozier (14 points) and Kyrie leading the way.


• Bad foul to end half by Smart to allow Sixers to close the gap to 11.


• Stevens shortens rotation and plays just eight guys in the first half.

• Gordon Hayward will miss his second straight game as he remains in the league's concussion protocol after suffering a hard hit to the head against the Hawks on Saturday. “He did a pretty lengthy workout on the treadmill yesterday, so that was a good sign,” Brad Stevens told reporters in Philly. “The way it works, then you go 24 hours and get reassessed. Every indication is that he felt OK today. But he will go to the doctor in Boston today. If he’s cleared to go, he’ll go through the next steps and keep on going. We’ll see. Our hope is that he joins us in Charlotte but won’t be here tonight.” Hayward scored 30 points in the team's previous win over the Sixers last month.


• Kyrie Irving acknowledged that he plans on taking a few games off over the final 11 in order to rest up ahead of the postseason. “It just makes no sense to put emphasis on these regular-season games when you know you’re gearing up for some battles coming in the playoffs," Irving said on Wednesday to reporters in Philadelphia. Al Horford is also expected to take 2-3 games off to rest up down the stretch.


• Boston will be going for a season sweep of the series against Philly on Wednesday in their final matchup of the regular season. Boston has now won 10 of the last 12 games against the Sixers dating back to last season.


• A closer look at the implications of the seeding for the C's dependent on the results of tonight's matchup.