The Boston Celtics rose to the occasion with a big victory Tuesday night against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Just when you thought the Boston Celtics have hit their lowest point, they rise up and get a big win against the star powered Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.
Heading into the game without Kyrie Irving and Aaron Baynes, the shorthanded Celtics proved their depth in outshining the quartet of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler and the newly acquired Tobias Harris.
Coming off an embarrassing loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday night, followed by the outspoken words of veteran forward Marcus Morris, this game against an Eastern Conference power was a potential turning point in the season either way.
The way the team responded led by Al Horford, Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum really showed that this team is very dangerous when they play together and play with the passion on both ends of the court that they are capable of.
In all, the 112-109 win in Philadelphia was exactly the kind of response Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens wanted to see from his team.
"“Good teams have clunkers,” Stevens said following the game, via NESN. “But good teams respond to those with the right effort and approach. That was a good one….I thought the whole night we played the right way. We tried to stay within ourselves. We didn’t get too high or too low. We fought. That’s what you have to do to have a chance to win.”"
Inspired by the criticism of Marcus Morris, the Celtics are now 3-0 this season against the Philadelphia 76ers and here’s 3 stars who rose to the occasion to help lead the effort.
Al Horford
When it comes to veteran leadership, Al Horford is showing it on and off the court.
On Tuesday night, the veteran big man got the best of Joel Embiid once again. With another big game against the Philadelphia 76ers big man, Horford scored 23 points with eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
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Horford didn’t completely shut down Embiid, but in matching the production of Embiid, the Florida Gators alum neutralized whatever advantage Philly had down low, which he seems to always do in these matchups.
With great court vision, timely scoring and tough interior defense, Al Horford really rose to the occasion to help his team get back on track. While some criticism of Horford has been his lack of veteran leadership, sometimes leaders aren’t outspoken, but lead with how they perform on the court.
That’s what Horford did Tuesday night against the 76ers. After the game, he did voice how proud he was of his team’s overall performance.
"“Coming into this game we understood, Philly’s been playing at a high level,” Horford said, as transcribed by Celtics.com. “We had some disappointing losses at home, and I felt our backs were against the wall. We all needed to come out and set the tone, and we did that.”"
Most importantly, the Boston Celtics sustained the tone by really good team basketball the entire night.
Jayson Tatum
While it was pretty predictable that veterans like Al Horford, Marcus Morris and Marcus Smart were going to show up, it was great to see one of the young stars turn it out in Philly.
Against the 76ers, Jayson Tatum proved to be a problem by recording a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He did commit some silly fouls, but he gamed it out both defensively with a key block and offensively by showing his ability to score from anywhere on the court.
When it comes to setting a tone, take a look at this play by Tatum:
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1095511905177751552
Those are the kind of plays that Boston Celtics fans would like to see more of from Tatum. Simply, when he plays the game aggressively on both end sky is the limit for the young rising star.
By stepping up in big games without Kyrie Irving like he did Tuesday night against the 76ers, Jayson Tatum showcases why he is the integral piece in landing Anthony Davis. He is also showing why the Boston Celtics will be more than fine with moving forward with Tatum as one of their foundation pieces.
Gordon Hayward
The greatest part of Tuesday night’s game was the performance of Gordon Hayward.
Boston Celtics fans have seen shades of the real Hayward at certain points of the season, but if the team can get the kind of contribution he put forth against Philly out of him more consistently, then sky is the limit for this basketball team.
In the 112-109 victory over the 76ers, Gordon Haywards led all scorers with 26 points off the bench including six three-pointers. One of those 3s helped shift the momentum late in the fourth quarter.
Following a 7-0 run by the 76ers to take a 103-102 lead, Hayward answered the call with a clutch wide open three-pointer to put the Boston Celtics back up for good with 1:50 left in the game.
The clutch moment was a great one coming from a player who has taken some of the blame for the team’s up-and-down season so far. It was also a key moment for a Celtics team with something to prove to themselves, particularly on the road.
Let’s see if Tuesday night’s win in Philly lead to more consistent play from Gordon Hayward and the rest of the Celtics team.