BSJ Game Report: Celtics 106, Sixers 99 - Total team effort lifts shorthanded Celtics past Sixers

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Philadelphia 76ers, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics came into the game shorthanded, with Marcus Smart still out with his ankle injury and both Robert Williams (ankle) and Al Horford (knee) late scratches. The supporting cast stepped up in a big way early, with Grant Williams and Blake Griffin carrying the offense with hot 3-point shooting in the first half. The Celtics fell down early but managed to take a lead with Joel Embiid on the bench. They held onto that lead through the third quarter, even after losing Jaylen Brown at halftime with a facial contusion in a collision with Jayson Tatum. The Celtics built that lead to 10 in the fourth and were able to withstand Philly’s late run to hold on for an impressive win.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Jaylen Brown injured: According to Shams Charania, Brown suffered a facial fracture in his collision with Tatum late in the second half. Both were chasing an offensive rebound when Tatum inadvertently elbowed Brown in the left cheek. There is now a fear that Brown will be sidelined through the All-Star break. 

Supporting cast saves C’s: Brown left the game having played 18 minutes but only scoring 4 points on 2-9 shooting. Tatum shot 5-15 for the night and finished with 12 points. Amazingly, the Celtics still put up 106, and it was thanks to huge contributions from Griffin, Grant Williams, Malcolm Brogdon, Derrick White and Sam Hauser, who combined for 82 points. 

Make or miss league: The Sixers shot 10-31 from 3 while Boston shot 19-35. Doc Rivers love talking about makes and misses, and this game might be different if Tobias Harris didn’t match Jaylen Brown’s stat line almost exactly in 32 minutes of play. It’s not a great night for you if you’re arguably outplayed by a guy who left at halftime with a broken face.

Incredible defensive effort: Grant Williams was awesome on Embiid. Derrick White had two highlight blocks. Payton Pritchard came in late and was bothering Philly with full-court pressure. They got the stops when they needed them. 

TURNING POINT

I’m going to go with the White block on Harris at the 8:29 mark. That was going to be an easy layup and White hustled back to erase it. Sam Hauser hit a corner 3 to make it 95-85 when it easily could have been 92-87. Doc Rivers called a timeout and the whole building exploded. Not only that, it bought Tatum a couple of extra minutes on the bench. 

FIVE UP

Grant Williams: Man did he need this one. I’m sure the frustrated “trade Grant” chatter will quiet after this game. He was back to hitting shots, scoring 15 points on 5-10 shooting (4-6 3pt), adding 8 rebounds and 5 assists. But again, the way he defended Embiid was fantastic. 

“Grant does a great job of doing his work early, of making him get catches outside of the scoring area,” Joe Mazzulla said “He does a good job of having active hands, not getting his hand in the cookie jar. And then he has the ability when he's in the game, we can play different pick and roll coverages. So it forces Embiid to just kind of react to that.”

I’ll just put it this way -- I normally have to wait to start writing this game report in close games like this because I need to see how the game plays out. But once Williams started pushing Embiid up to the free throw line to catch the ball, and once Embiid started taking, and missing, fadeaway jumpers from there, I started writing this piece as a win. Once Embiid starts settling for those shots in the fourth quarter, your team is in a great position. 

Blake Griffin: Came in hot and hit FIVE 3-pointers. I’m always talking about how clutch shots can come at any point in a game, and I’ll argue that Griffin’s first three 3-pointers were pretty clutch because they turned a 7-0 Sixers run into 7-3, then 9-6, and then 11-9 Boston. This game would have played out MUCH differently if it was 9-0 or 11-2. The Sixers pushed the lead to 18-11 there in the first, so remove Griffin’s shooting and 18-2 could have given the Sixers a ton of confidence, especially considering how much Embiid thrives as a frontrunner with leads. 

Derrick White: His two blocks were amazing, but the turning point block was something White felt like he had to get. 

“It was my turnover to start it all off,” White said. “Blake was wide open, and I just made a lazy pass so I was just trying to get it back and go up there and make a play, and I was able to get it. And Sam obviously hit that big 3 in the corner, and that was a good momentum swing for us. It kind of started with my turnover, but I had to find a way to get it back.”

White is having a phenomenal stretch right now. He’s giving the Celtics exactly what they need. 19 points on 8-13 shooting (3-6 3pt), including a really clutch 3-pointer to give Boston a 6-point lead with 2:09 left. 

Malcolm Brogdon: 19 points off the bench to help give Boston a 41-21 bench-scoring advantage. I wrote before the game that the bench performance would be critical, and Brogdon came through. 

Sam Hauser: He had 14 points and was a perfect 4-4 from deep. Suddenly his confidence is back thanks to 9-14 shooting from deep over his past two games.

NONE DOWN 

I’m not going to grade Jaylen Brown on this one. He started slow, obviously, but I’m not going to pile on after this injury. 

ONE UP AND DOWN

Jayson Tatum: I just couldn't put him in the “up” because he did force shots, rely on the 3-pointers too often, and turn the ball over too much. However, he had 9 assists and 8 rebounds, so he did do other important things. 

“I thought JT, honestly, had an extremely well-rounded game. Super unselfish,” Brogdon said. “If he wasn't as unselfish as he was, everybody couldn't have contributed the way they did and we wouldn't have won the game. To have a superstar and MVP candidate be that unselfish and not be worried about his points — especially in an ESPN game against Joel Embiid —  there's a lot on the line and a lot going on. If he was selfish, he would come out and get his 40 points. But he wants to win, man. So my hat goes off to him especially.”

Fair enough, but the offense did stall when he came back into the game in the fourth quarter-- a rarity for this year’s Celtics because it usually stalls without him. He also played pretty well defensively, so I’m not going to kill him too much. It was an up-and-down game. 

TOP PLAYS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER 

- This game is what makes Boston so dangerous

How the hell does Boston beat a full-strength Sixers team without Smart, Robert Williams, Horford, only 18 minutes from Brown, and a 5-15, 12 point performance from Tatum?

When they get these kinds of performances from the supporting cast, the Celtics can be damn near unbeatable. Obviously, Hauser won’t be perfect from 3 and Griffin won’t play much, but getting a good shooting from Hauser, starter-level play from Brogdon, and great two-way play from White and Grant Williams makes the Celtics dominant. 

Put that level of effort and execution next to good games from Tatum and Brown and we’ll see Boston putting up 140 points again. 

- Blake Griffin clearly doesn’t like Doc Rivers. 

Listen to him here: 

“That was their game plan. Obviously Doc makes the game plan. They didn't adjust, which has been sort of a thing." 

This goes back to their Clippers days together. I’m sure he’s still pissed about how that all went down. He does not miss an opportunity to throw shade at Doc. 

Next up: The Celtics host the Hornets Friday night at 7:30