BSJ Game Report: Boston 117, Sixers 107 - Shorthanded C's get revenge on Sixers

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

IN A NUTSHELL

Jrue Holiday set the early tone by getting to the basket, but the Celtics opened up a 15-point lead thanks to a defense-fueled 12-2 run with Jayson Tatum on the bench. They lost it all in another sloppy, disastrous second quarter where Tyrese Maxey did whatever he wanted. Things flipped again as Boston went from down one to up eight in the third thanks to three straight 3-pointers from Al Horford. Horford continued to make a huge impact with his defense, combining with Derrick White to finish Philly off and reclaim first place.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Winning shorthanded: The Celtics were without Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, and let’s face it, without much from Tatum for a while. They got something from just about everyone. 

- Ageless Al Horford: His 3-point barrage in the third changed the game, and his five blocked shots, including two late, helped seal it. Horford versus Joel Embiid is always a fun matchup, and Horford won it tonight. 

- Great guards: White and Holiday were huge in this game. Holiday started things off by getting to the rim. White was aggressive and got to the line 10 times. A couple of nights after they didn’t do much in terms of counting stats, they stepped up their scoring when the Celtics needed it.

TURNING POINT

Horford hit three straight 3-pointers as part of a 15-7 Celtics stretch in the middle of the third quarter when then went from down five to up three. In a game with 11 lead changes, Horford’s final 3-pointer was the last of them, giving Boston a lead they’d never give up again. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Everyone stepping up: Let’s start with Dalano Banton in the first quarter doing a bit of everything (except scoring). Luke Kornet had a couple of big putbacks. Sam Hauser gave them 35 minutes, and while he didn’t hit shots at the same rate, he still played a solid overall game. 

“The thing about those guys is they all have NBA experience,” Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “It's not that they're not really good players. We've watched them play against us … It's just that they come to our team where this is the situation that we have. And so for them to stay mature and ready to go. It was important for us.”

Fourth quarter execution: Boston shot 34% from 3 through three quarters but they went 4-9 (44.4%) in the fourth with big shots from White, Horford, and Tatum. Tatum wasn’t his usual best through three, but he put up 10 in the fourth. White scored 14 on 4-7 shooting and four free throws. He also had three assists in the quarter.

Jrue Holiday’s night … especially his rebounding: Holiday has grabbed double-digit rebounds in four of 11 games with the Celtics. He only did that twice in 193 games with the Bucks.

He set the tone early by posting up, backing guys down, and getting to the rim. The only thing that would have made his shot chart better was a little better shooting night from 3. 

Joel Embiid four free throw attempts: He usually takes about 12 a game, but he took four against Boston in this one and six against them in the last one. Boston has done a good job of keeping him off balance. Of course, Embiid is nursing a sore hip and is on the back-to-back, but this is now two games in a row against Boston that he hasn’t been able to live at the line. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Losing the non-Embiid minutes in the second quarter: The second quarter was a disaster, again, for the Celtics. It felt like they worked their butts off to take the lead with Embiid on the floor and then once he sat they felt like they could relax. 

- Losing too many 50/50 plays: The Sixers hustle, and the Celtics spent too much of this game losing fights for loose balls and rebounds. Obviously they recovered and did well enough, so I’m not killing them for it. But it’s an area they need to improve.  

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Derrick White is really sacrificing for this team: White is a damn good player. So good, I think, that he’s able to really excel in a role for the Celtics when he could be doing a whole lot more for another team. 

That's not easy to do. 

White seems quite content to do whatever the Celtics need him to do, but nights like this show us all that what he can do and what Boston needs are two different things. 

On a team with Tatum and Brown, White plays the set-up man more often than not. He can hit the shots that come to him when the attention gets paid to those other guys, and he’s very good in that role. 

But when someone is out, White has no problem stepping up and being the closer himself. 

“He's just one of guys that always shows up and makes the right play. And I thought he made some big time plays … it was 89-88 and I thought about calling a timeout. But then he had the ball in his hands and I felt like if we could run a good set, we could kind of calm it down with execution and he did that.” 

White hit a 3-pointer to make it 92-88 and then ran a high pick-and-roll with Kornet to make it 94-88 on a play where a less confident player would have just kicked it over to Tatum on the right side and scooted out of his way. 

via GIPHY

White has the stones to make plays late in the game, not just defer to the stars. He could do a lot more if he wanted to go elsewhere, but he’s happily adjusting his game on most nights to fit in however he needs to. 

It’s fun to see him play on those nights where he gets to be a bit more. 

Up next: Boston heads to Toronto for a Friday night In-Season Tournament game.