Shorthanded Celtics earn statement win vs 76ers: Key takeaways

The Boston Celtics won against rival Philadelphia 76ers 106-99 in Primetime on Wednesday night. The Celtics earned a bounce back win against the Detroit Pistons 111-99 on Monday night.

This was a marquee matchup with the No.1 and No.3 teams in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics defeated the 76ers in the season opener 126-117 on October 18th.

As mentioned in the title, the Celtics were shorthanded during the game. Starting Big men Robert Williams III (left ankle sprain) and Al Horford (right knee swelling) were both out for the game. Marcus Smart is still dealing with the ankle injury so he was out for the 8th straight game. In the 1st quarter, Jaylen Brown left the game with a facial contusion after colliding with Jayson Tatum.

With the main starting bigs out for the Celtics, they had to rely on their reserves down low to try to stop Joel Embiid. Grant Williams started at power forward while Blake Griffin started at center for the Celtics. They also had to rely on Luke Kornet, who was previously out in the win against the Pistons.

Celtics had a balanced team effort

The C’s had seven players in double-figures in the win. Leading the Celtics were point guards Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon who got 19 points each. Joining them, Blake Griffin got his season-high of 15 points, by making all 5 of his three-pointers. Grant Williams also had 15 points for the Celtics. Sam Hauser got 14 points off the bench and Jayson Tatum had 12 points.

In rebounding, three players lead the team with 8. Tatum, Grant Williams, and Hauser all had eight rebounds each. Tatum also lead the Celtics in assists with 9, and he almost had a Triple-Double in the game.

The Celtics had a great night from beyond the ark, with a 54.3 percent three-point percentage. As mentioned before, Griffin made 5 three-pointers, Williams had 4-6 three point field goals for the night. Both Hauser and Brogdon made all of their three-pointer attempts with 4 and 2 respectively. Tatum then made 1-5 on three-pointers.

https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1623487214155091970

On the defensive front, the C’s kept the 76ers to a 44.6 percent field goal percentage with only letting in 32.3 percent of the 76ers three-point shots. Boston scored 19 points off turnovers while the 76ers only scored 10. The Celtics had five blocks on the night, with White and Kornet having two each.

Despite the great defense by the C’s, Embiid was still able to lead the game with 28 points and James Harden had 26, but the C’s were able to hold 2 starters to single digits including Tobias Harris with four points.

The Green clicked on both sides of the ball against the 76ers despite being shorthanded for the game, shows how much depth the Celtics really have this season and one of the reasons why they’ve done so well.

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Play of the Game: D-White block makes way for Hauser corner shot

After a White threw a pass straight to Tyrese Maxey, who scored 6 for the Sixers. Maxey passed to Harris for a fast break layup, only to get chase down blocked from D-White.

This would be White’s second block in the game as he blocked a 4-foot jumper from Montrezl Harrell in the 2nd quarter.

What makes it special was that Hauser made a transition bucket as a corner-three after an assist by Griffin, which was his only assist for the night.

White has 0.9 blocks per game and has had several games with multiple blocks this season as he has the jump to make those good blocks, sometimes against big men like Harris and Harrell.

The Green will continue their three-game homestand against the Charlotte Hornets on ESPN for Friday Night Basketball for a 7:30 tip-off.