The Sixers played a great game for most of the night Sunday.
Ultimately, that didn’t last for long enough.
The Celtics erased a 26-point deficit and snagged a 118-110 comeback win at Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers fell to 10 games under .500 at 19-29. Boston improved to 20 games over .500 at 35-15.
Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 34 points. Guerschon Yabusele added 21.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum recorded 35 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. Jaylen Brown had 21 points, 10 boards and six assists.
The Sixers had seven men out Sunday night. Eric Gordon (left knee soreness) was a new addition to their list of sidelined players.
Head coach Nick Nurse said pregame that each of the players out (besides Jared McCain) did on-court work Saturday and he’s “hopeful” all will return this week. Joel Embiid (left knee injury management) and Paul George (left pinkie finger extensor tendon strain) were again among the players shooting jumpers on the floor before the game.
The Sixers will next play on Tuesday night and host the Mavs, who just made the shocking decision to trade away Luka Doncic and acquire Anthony Davis.
Here are observations on their loss to Boston:
Maxey’s first quarter was right in line with his his recent play. He entered the night averaging 32.3 points over his last 13 games and fresh off a 42-point performance vs. the Nuggets.
Justin Edwards helped him break the Sixers’ ice, grabbing an offensive rebound that led to a Maxey three-pointer. Ricky Council IV, making his fourth career NBA start, also added five straight points in the early going.
Maxey then had a sensational stretch, scoring a tricky and-one layup, a pull-up transition three and a long-distance jumper over Al Horford that gave the Sixers a 21-10 lead. He finished the first quarter with 16 points.
Jaden Springer subbed in following a Celtics timeout and defended his former teammate. Springer missed a couple of wide-open corner threes, but he played good, physical defense on Maxey. Boston got a few stops in a row and put together an 8-0 run.
After playing two seconds Friday night in the Celtics’ win over the Pelicans, Springer logged seven first-quarter minutes in Philadelphia.
The shorthanded Sixers’ only three subs Sunday were Kyle Lowry, Reggie Jackson and Adem Bona.
Both Lowry and Jackson were solid during their first Maxey-less stint. Jackson made a tough elbow jumper late in the shot clock. Lowry grabbed a couple of contested defensive rebounds and drained a couple of threes. When Maxey re-entered and drilled a triple, the Sixers’ lead was up to 15 points.
In contrast to the Sixers, the Celtics’ shooting was frigid. The Sixers’ zone defense was quite effective, mainly because Boston began 4 for 20 from three-point range.
True to their team identity, the Celtics kept launching. They eventually saw jumpers drop from Sam Hauser, Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis.
However, those shots didn’t meaningfully dent the Sixers’ lead. Wings Council, Edwards and Kelly Oubre Jr. all provided loads of hustle in the second quarter and played with tons of force and aggression in the open floor while avoiding bad turnovers. Oubre continued his recent trend of diligent work on the boards, snatching nine rebounds in the first half.
At halftime, the Sixers had a 19-3 advantage in fast-break points. Council assisted a Yabusele layup with 3.8 seconds left in the second quarter, extending the Celtics’ deficit to 61-44.
Brown played especially tight, handsy defense on Maxey to start the third quarter, which forced other Sixers to make plays.
They did so impressively. Council dished to a cutting Yabusele for a slam that stretched the Sixers’ lead to 23 points. Council set a new career high with eight assists Sunday, easily beating his prior best of four. Yabusele threw a nifty behind-the-head feed to Edwards inside.
Maxey picked up his fourth foul when Jrue Holiday drew a charge with 7:32 left in the third quarter, but he stayed in the game and the Sixers’ level of play remained very high. They led by as many as 26 points in the third period.
Of course, the Celtics’ ultra-high three-point volume means that a big run always may be right around the corner. Boston hit the Sixers with a huge one as Maxey watched from the bench.
The Jackson-Lowry pairing fared much, much worse than in the first half (Jackson shot 2 for 9 overall) and the Celtics’ shooting night suddenly normalized. Hauser made two threes early in the fourth quarter and Nurse called timeout after a Tatum jumper trimmed Boston’s deficit to single digits.
In a flash, the Sixers’ lead evaporated completely.
Tatum caught fire, sinking several tough jumpers, and the Sixers’ offensive execution plummeted. The team became slow, shaky and hesitant in the half court. And, with the Celtics scoring just about every time down, the Sixers’ chances to attack in the open floor disappeared.
Stunningly, the Celtics took a 105-100 lead on a Tatum layup shortly after he’d blocked a Maxey three-point try.
The final minutes were tense as the Sixers attempted to right the ship. They got within 110-109 on an Oubre three late in the shot clock, but Boston maintained a slim lead.
Tatum made a clutch shot over Maxey, Oubre and Council both missed crucial free throws and Holiday delivered a dagger jumper that gave the Celtics a 118-110 advantage with a little under a minute to go.
Brutal way for the undermanned Sixers to lose a game they were at one point heavy, heavy favorites to win.
