The Boston Celtics dominated the Philadelphia 76ers for a wire-to-wire win. The Celtics led by as many as 51 points and finished the game with a 135-87 win.
This was the Celtics’ most impressive win of the season by a big margin. Not only did they dominate this game from the opening tip, but they held the MVP frontrunner and NBA leading scorer Joel Embiid to only 19 points on just three made baskets.
Jaylen Brown kicked things off for the C’s and set an early tone that everyone was able to feed off of. The mix of hot shooting and a suffocating defense allowed the Celtics to take a massive lead early that just kept getting larger as the game went on. They never took their foot off the gas and shut down any chance of a Philly comeback attempt.
However, things weren’t all positive for the Celtics in the first half.
Marcus Smart suffered a right ankle sprain after drawing a foul on Joel Embiid in the second quarter. Smart was unable to put much pressure on his ankle and after missing both of his free throws, he would leave the game and never return.
The Sixers went on a 10-0 run after Smart exited the game and his injury seemed to change the outlook of the game. This current Celtics team, however, is not the same team they were a few months ago and rather than folding, they responded quickly. They closed the half on a 9-0 run of their own and took a 27-point lead into the break.
The third quarter was more of the same for Boston and they were able to pull their starters en route to the dominant victory.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were on fire and scored 29 and 28 points. This seemed to be the case with everyone tonight as the Celtics set a franchise record for three-pointers with 25 made triples.
The Celtics will look to win their 10th straight game as they play one final game before the all star break against the Detroit Pistons.
Credit: Bostonsportswave
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