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Celtics Wrap: Joel Embiid Leads 76ers Over Boston 115-109 At TD Garden
 
NESN by Chris Grenham on Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 10:45PM
 
The Boston Celtics met the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night for the second time this season, but their Eastern Conference foe got the better of them once again, delivering the first road win at TD Garden this season. Kemba Walker lit it up early for the Celtics, but Philadelphia’s closing defense proved too much for Boston as the Sixers came out victorious, 115-109. Walker led the scoring with 29 points, while Gordon Hayward added 19 of his own. Enes Kanter (20 points) and Daniel Theis (16) notched their respective season-highs. Joel Embiid led the way for the Sixers with 38 points and 13 rebounds. Boston moved to 17-7 with the loss, while Philadelphia moved to 19-7. Here’s how it all went down:
 
 STARTING FIVE PG: Kemba Walker SG: Jaylen Brown SF: Gordon Hayward PF: Jayson Tatum C: Daniel Theis KEMBA STAYS HOT Both sides started off strong over the game’s first five minutes, with Boston opening at a 55.6 percent clip, while Philadelphia was shooting 71.4 percent. Walker picked up right where he left off in Indiana, scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in his first nine minutes on the floor. He took advantage of rookie Matisse Thybulle, arguably the best defender in the 2019 rookie class. Walker was able to beat him off the dribble relentlessly, at one point converting a four-point play. As expected, Philly and Boston traded buckets for the majority of the first quarter, with Boston holding a 34-28 lead after one. Surprisingly, the Celtics’ interior game helped them get there. They won the battle in the paint early, scoring 22 points inside compared to Philadelphia’s six. Walker’s 12 first-quarter points were a game-high.
 
BATTLING TO THE BREAK Walker was solid again throughout the second to pace the Celtics, but the scoring became much more widespread as Philly continued to push back. Brad Stevens did a great job working through the Sixers’ huge lineup, dissecting Brett Brown’s defensive system by targeting Embiid and sucking him into countless pick-and-rolls along the perimeter. Walker’s quickness off the bounce was too much to handle alongside of this set up for Philadelphia. He’d finished the first half with 21 points to lead all scorers. Embiid was solid on the offensive end despite some struggled defensively. The big man had 16 points, four rebounds and three assists at the break. The Celtics led 59-56 after two.
 
SHUTTING DOWN KEMBA Hayward opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers, the first triples since he returned from a broken left hand. He’d score Boston’s first eight points of the third. Josh Richardson did a nice job containing Walker, helping Philadelphia take a lead after five minutes. Boston was able to run the offense through Hayward, but not having Walker play at his first-half level hurt the Celtics. Ben Simmons ability to limit Jaylen Brown also gave Boston some trouble, as Philadelphia was able to keep him quiet through three quarters. Tatum continued to struggle as well. He was 3-of-15 from the floor entering the fourth. Enes Kanter gave the Celtics some quality minutes in the third, just as he did in the first half. The center was solid defensively, which, as Boston fans know, is not his strong suit. He was able to force Embiid into a few uncomfortable possessions in addition to forcing a few steals, which was all Stevens could ask of him against the Sixers lineup. Boston trailed 81-80 entering the final frame.
 
DOWN TO THE WIRE Philadelphia’s defense continued to improve as the fourth began, but Boston did a nice job keeping up its intensity. Kanter was up to his season-high of 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting after three fourth-quarter minutes. He was a huge factor all night alongside Theis. The two bigs combined for 32 points on 15-of-21 shooting with five minutes to spare, keeping Boston within striking distance. An Embiid 3-pointer gave the 76ers an eight-point lead with just over four-minutes left, their biggest lead of the night to that point. He’d pace Philly, as he did all night, the rest of the way. But it was the defensive effort that really locked up the Celtics. The Sixers locked down on Boston’s high pick-and rolls, forcing the Celtics into some difficult shots. Despite that, a late 7-0 run with a minute left brought Boston within two. Both sides would trade buckets, resulting in a 110-109 score with 26 seconds left in regulation, but the Sixers would prevail, with Embiid capping the game with a late-game block on Daniel Theis.
 
PLAY OF THE GAME Not the highlight reel type, but this is the exact help defense Boston needs when going up against the Sixers’ gigantic lineup.
 
112288

Tough loss.  We can play with these guys.  They are not as good as they appear.

Reffing was BS especially the no call foul on Brown in the closing seconds.

An addition or two especially at center puts us beyond them.

Go Celtics!

112288

A learning experience for 2 J’s, they were defended well, I liked some of the shots Tatum got, they just weren’t going in. He did show some ice water in his veins, hitting 2 big 3’s to make it soo close at end. Jaylen could have been more aggressive, didn’t put up enough shots, maybe Embid had something to do with that? Kantor and Theis played well, combined for 36 points and 14 rebounds, shocked me they could put up those kind of numbers vs Embid. Embid had a season high in points, next time we play 76ers and they have Al, maybe we could play RW with Kantor or Theis for a stretch. I wouldn’t mind seeing us go big sometime, if only RW could be durable, we sure could have used him. Hayward was so crafty getting a lot of good looks and some on the baseline. Hope this loss motivates 2 J’s to play better....

Before we start coming with the sky is falling, let's look at a couple of things:

1) We're not at full strength. PHI was. And before anyone jumps on the Al Horford absence, his replacement last night was way better for one game than Horford himself. Our main defensive guy was out. I'll bet my wife's paycheck again since it came in overnight and say MS would have been the difference. This loss just showed the importance of Marcus Smart with his health and many contributions, tangible and intangible, to the team.

2) If anyone on this site disagrees with the fact hands down the game ball going to Kanter let them speak now or forever hold their peace. Evidently you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. Someone must have said something to him or he's been reading this site. I thought DA had made a trade last night and was wondering who INH was THAT guy. Great game where he took what Embiid was giving. Never backed down. If that guy shows up every game, the East and West are in BIG Trouble! Embiid is looking like Wilt more and more every day! Kanter did about as good as you can get against an Inside The NBA running train induced performance. Something else to add to the medias wish list now...Eastern Conference Finals of MIL vs. PHI. Put that in concrete. That leaves us out.

3) We hung with them and had our chances to win at the end. Can't ask for much more than that except for us to crossover and start winning those 50/50 games at the end. PHI is in our head now, though. They earned it last night. Tip our hats. Lick our wounds. Move on.

Now for the WTH section of my analysis.

1) J&J - Pretty much brick layers or non-existent until end 3's by JT. Too little, too late. They were systematically shut down. Give PHI credit. When we say our prayers every night, we need to thank the Hornets.

2) Regarding the officiating. A lot like what Jordan said when asked about the Bulls getting all the important calls in the game at the right time and implying they were lucky. "S0?!" was his answer. We're just not going to get those calls. Deal with it. Plan for it. Don't be behind when they come and they won't be a problem.

3) Until our significant injuries bandwagon ceases or those above us have to deal with/catch up with our sustained significant injuries as we have to date, we're going to have to learn to work around those or accept 4th place. We are right where we should be in the standings given our health report this far in. MIL, LAL, PHI, MIA would be much worse off if they had anything close to our significant injuries to date. Probably not even in the playoff race. Just remember, only one of these teams hoists the O'Brien Trophy in June.

4. I want to keep Brad off this list for now. But I just don't know if he is going to be the "Over The Hump" guy for us. Just a twinge of a feeling for me. Nothing significant yet. He may need to snap a couple of clipboards ala Steve Kerr to get the results he's looking for. But this may very well be the difference maker for this team crossing over from being IN all these games at the end to WINNING all these close games at the end. That's where the champions are made and the banners are hung. PHI had the eye of the tiger last night. The knockout blows. We did not. Yet we were still in it at the end. You tell me. Looks very promising. I just don't know what it's going to take to get us over. Maybe a few more big games like this.

P.S. Brad must not have had a chance to put together ANY kind of scouting report for Scott. Certainly appeared that way.

Grade at the Quarter Turn for us? B+. They have definitely far exceeded my and our expectations here to date. Now the Celtics need to continue to shift their focus to the killer instinct. Where's Kevin McHale when you need him?!! Right now, the league sees and plays Boston as a very good team with a bunch of nice guys that are having fun playing basketball together. Nothing wrong with that...EARLY ON. Great for chemistry with big benefits come playoff time. But you'll never win a championship that way. Ever. Not in the NBA. We all know where nice guys finish.

db

This was a one possession game.

JT has struggled the last two games against Indy and Philly (9-31)  So far in the month of January he is shooting only 39% from the field.  

Kemba Walker is a streaky shooter.

Gordon Hayward logged 37 solid minutes in his second game back and scored 19 points on 8-16 shooting,  He looks good.

For the first time this year we saw how productive Kanter can be with 20 points and 9 rebounds in 24 minutes.  Those are great numbers.

Jaylen with a below par game.  First one we have seen in a while.

Size matters.  It mattered going up against Indy and Philly.

Brad stayed away from small ball at the 5.

What is clearly missing is Marcus Smart.  The tenacity factor is void without him.  

Length matters and with no RW it has also been a challenge defending the paint.

Not to worry.  The Celtics have to take their lumps and bumps in stride.

No one wins 82 games. Onward.

Embiid taking his critics' advice to heart. Going to be the big dog.

Patience.

And BTW- that was a 24 second violation with 4 minutes left that the refs missed and even the Celtics announcers didnt mention.

Glimmer we played so bad, 2 J’s with one of their worst performances of this season and we were right there at the end. If refs make correct call on Jaylen getting run over by Richardson with 25 seconds left in a one possession game...??? And despite Embid’s dominant game, our 2 5’s played really good, carrying us at times with 2 J’s so off. RW has to get his body and game right, just get on the floor and play to your strengths. We can play with this team, Jaylen has to be more aggressive and Jayson missed so many makeable shots for him. Would like to see Tacko start getting 5-6 minutes a game, see what he can do....

Defense has slipped a bit.

Everybody will go through ups and downs.

dboss wrote:Defense has slipped a bit.

Everybody will go through ups and downs.

Well recently Smart and RW have been out, I know he doesn’t even know what he’s doing, but my eyes tell me, RW his 15 minutes on the floor really helps the defense.

cowens/oldschool wrote:

dboss wrote:Defense has slipped a bit.

Everybody will go through ups and downs.

Well recently Smart and RW have been out, I know he doesn’t even know what he’s doing, but my eyes tell me, RW his 15 minutes on the floor really helps the defense.

True, Smart especially and RW makes our defense better.