The Celtics saw an early lead evaporate after a poor third quarter performance, but were able to hold on and extend the lead in the fourth quarter to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 107-96 Friday night. Jared Sullinger led the way with 22 points, 8 rebounds and a career-high 7 assists, while Avery Bradley continued his recent hot streak, netting 18 points.
For the 76ers, five players reached double figures in a balanced scoring effort. In the end, their 17 turnovers that led to 20 Celtics points were too much to overcome despite the third quarter push.
The Celtics came out strong in the first quarter as Avery Bradley continued his hot shooting. They finished the quarter shooting 11 for 19 while a strong defensive effort and some bad 76ers shooting resulted in a 6 for 20 effort, giving the Cs a 14 point advantage heading into the second.
The second quarter brought some more hot shooting from the Cs with Bradley and Marcus Thronton knocking down a pair of triples each. Tyler Zeller also put together a nice quarter with 7 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks on 3 for 3 shooting. The Celtics forced 7 turnovers that led to 10 points, but the defense dropped off as they allowed the 76ers to score 27 points in the period.
Jared Sullinger had a nice first half, scoring at all three levels, the paint, mid-range, and deep to total 13 points 2 rebounds and 3 assists. He has been in a nice rhythm lately and has looked very comfortable on the court.
The third quarter was disappointing for the Cs, especially given how well the team played throughout the first half. The ball did not seem to move with the same crispness as it did in the first and the Celtics settled for a lot of jump shots, leading to a 4 of 19 (21%) performance. As Brad Stevens put it, the team’s play lacked “gumption.” Maybe I was the only person who had to look up the exact definition of that word, but, after I did, I’m convinced that Stevens could not have picked a better one to describe what the Celtics needed more of in the third.
The 76ers cut the lead down to 3 with just over 8 minutes to go. But a couple of big threes by Marcus Thornton and some nice work on the offensive boards by Jared Sullinger allowed the Celtics to stretch the lead back out and win this one going away. Still, the third and beginning of the fourth will leave a bad taste in this team’s mouth going into tomorrow’s game against Milwaukee.
The Green:
Jared Sullinger: Sully has averaged 19.3 points, 8 rebounds and 5.7 assists during the Celtics current 3-game win streak. He set a career high with 7 assists tonight and has really shown that he has a great feel for the game over the past week. As happy as I am to see Sully playing well, now his challenge is to do it against some tougher opponents.
Avery Bradley: Bradley has been hot lately, and made some big shots to extend the Celtics lead down the stretch. Bradley is shooting 36% from deep on the year and that number may improve even further based on last year’s performance. However, it’s difficult to call him a shooter. It seems like when he’s knocking shots down, he’ll make just about everything, but there are also games where the Celtics find him with an extra pass and he misses 3 or 4 good looks in a row. More than anything, I’d like to see Bradley become consistent with his entire offensive game, because his defense continues to be great.
Tyler Zeller: Zeller continues to be a solid contributor for the Cs as he totaled 16 and 9 to go along with 3 blocks tonight. It’s nice to see him continue to make strides in his development. I’m interested to see how much he improves given another offseason and whether he can make that next step to become a starting center in the league.
The Gross:
The 3rd quarter: It seemed like the Cs were happy with how they played in the first half and felt like they could coast the rest of the game playing against a bad team. That was not the case. The 76ers knocked down some shots and hopefully reminded the Celtics that they are not yet good enough to coast against anybody.
The Greenlights: Courtesy of @KWAPT
Some nice Passing from the Cs
Sully knocks down 3 of his 22 from deep
Zeller with the block
Bradley’s hot start
Brandon Bass with the corner 3
Smart finds Bradley
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