GRADES: Philadelphia 76ers 117, Boston Celtics 109
By Sam Coltrane
The Philadelphia 76ers continue to dominate at home.
The Philadelphia 76ers continued their home-court dominance in a win over the Boston Celtics.
Philadelphia returned Joel Embiid and Furkan Korkmaz as Boston was missing Jayson Tatum.
The first quarter began as Boston jumped out to a 12-4 run on a Kemba Walker 3-pointer. From there, Tobias Harris scored seven straight points followed by an Embiid lay-in to give Philadelphia the lead 13-12.
The teams traded baskets throughout the quarter ending with a Dwight Howard tip-in 32-25.
Philadelphia and Boston started even in the quarter until a 29-37, Boston embarked on a 19-6 run.
As the quartered progressed, Philadelphia chipped away at the lead with another final second shot falling this time for Harris to close Boston’s lead to 61-58.
Embiid helped keep the game close for Philadelphia in the third quarter as he poured in 14 points in the quarter alone. Despite the effort and a strong back-and-forth quarter, Boston separated by four in the final minute to push their lead to 92-86.
Philadelphia came out aggressive in the fourth quarter and overtook the lead with 8:02 remaining on a Harris and-one lay-in. The converted free-throw gave Philadelphia the lead 100-99.
From there, the quarter was again the teams mostly trading score for score and stop for stop. Two Shake Milton free throws extended Philadelphia’s lead to 113-109. A quick Jaylen Brown missed three-pointer was gathered by Daniel Theis and then immediately plucked by Ben Simmons.
Harris ultimately was sent to the line essentially icing the game with two free throws. Philadelphia would end the game 117-109.
A story as the game closed became the number of free throws that Embiid attempted, out-attempting Boston, himself. Referees aren’t perfect, but watching the game there weren’t too many disputes.
<strong>33 mins | 42 pts | 10 reb | 2 ast | 2 stl | 1 blk | 1 TO | 12-19 FG | 1-5 3PT| 17-21 FT | 2 PF | +15 |</strong><p>Embiid had another spectacular game as he poured in a personal-high against Boston with a 42-point double-double on better than 60 percent shooting. A fairly strong defensive performance emphasized a top-notch game in a career filled with so many.</p>. C. Philadelphia 76ers. JOEL EMBIID. A+
A-. <strong>33 mins | 11 pts | 8 reb | 8 ast | 2 stl | 0 blk | 3 TO | 2-5 FG | 0-0 3PT| 7-10 FT | 5 PF | +2 |</strong><p>Simmons was again productive while still feeling passive. His effort did translate to nearly his averages with a line of 11-8-8. This isn’t the place, but it is all too often. The biggest problem is a fans version of peak Simmons feels like Philadelphia could create a modern day attempt at Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar. He just isn’t that and Embiid is phenomenal but slow relative to the speed of today’s game preventing the duo from unlocking Simmons strengths. All of this said, he is on triple-double watch every night and deserves all the praise and more for his efforts on the less glamorous end.</p>. PG. Philadelphia 76ers. BEN SIMMONS
TOBIAS HARRIS. B+. <strong>40 mins | 22 pts | 3 reb | 5 ast | 2 stl | 0 blk | 0 TO | 9-17 FG | 1-5 3PT| 3-3 FT | 2 PF | +20 |</strong><p>Harris continued his barrage of steady excellence. On a team that goes as Embiid leads, Harris is proving to be a strong follower and consistent follower. He led the team in +/- again, scored 22 on better than 50 percent shooting, and dished out five assists. What some (myself included) thought might be a relative albatross of a contract is proving to perhaps just be a slight overpay that sometimes comes with keeping a third “star”. Too many fans focus on the contract, but the player himself is putting in quite the year and doing so consistently.</p>. PF. Philadelphia 76ers
B+. <strong>29 mins | 16 pts | 1 reb | 1 ast | 1 stl | 0 blk | 4 TO | 4-10 FG | 2-2 3PT| 6-6 FT | 1 PF | -2 |</strong><p>Milton had a scorer’s first game. He can lead an offense, but he also looks excited to get his own some nights. He plays with a fast-calm that is indicative of a player who stayed in college for three years while playing early under the Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown. Milton is now shooting over 42 percent from three-point range this season and contributes to the offense by always utilizing a live-dribble. His presence and offensive skill set can entertain new roles for Simmons.</p>. PG. Philadelphia 76ers. SHAKE MILTON
TYRESE MAXEY. C-. <strong>21 mins | 0 pts | 2 reb | 2 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 0 TO | 0-4 FG | 0-1 3PT| 0-0 FT | 2 PF | +2 |</strong><p>Green shot well, Howard played large, Thybulle stole the show with four swipes and zero points. All could have taken the final spot. Maxey didn’t earn it, but that’s also the main driver for why he’s here. Despite a limited box score impact, Maxey played in the flow of the offense and brought value. The young guards for Philadelphia won’t have it every night. That’s when they have to work through it. These aren’t the nights that end up on the highlight, but they end up being noticed on film.</p>. SG. Philadelphia 76ers
The two teams will run it back Friday in Philadelphia, where the Sixers are 8-1 on the season as Boston’s Tatum is apparently “50/50”. Seth Curry is expected to return to for Philadelphia as well helping further deepen the new-found guard rotation Philadelphia has built.
Philadelphia will be aiming to continue their home dominance as they aim to push their record to 40-5 at the Wells Fargo center over the past two seasons.
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