Getting crushed on the glass all night then winning on a last-second put-back is a good bit, can’t lie.
The Sixers beat the Boston Celtics 102-100 Tuesday night thanks to a Kelly Oubre Jr. put-back with
eight seconds left.
Tyrese Maxey’s streak of 25 points or more came to an end, as he had 21 points and nine assists on 5-of-17 shooting. Justin Edwards came off the bench to lead the Sixers with 22 points.
VJ Edgecombe struggled from the field but had some big baskets again, going 2-of-11 for six points. Oubre had only 12 points but tapped in the game winner with 8.7 seconds left.
In only 6:48 of action, Jared McCain once again struggled to get anything going, shooting 0-of-2 with just an assist and a rebound. Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 24.
Joel Embiid missed the game with right knee soreness. Nick Nurse said pregame that he had imaging done earlier in the day and doctors were in the building to go over those results.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- The Sixers were able to overcome some early game sloppiness with good shotmaking. They lost Neemias Queta a couple times right in front of the basket. Trendon Watford threw a hit-ahead pass that Oubre wasn’t looking for, but he also made a really nice move to get around his defender and get to the basket, as well as knock down a three. Edgecombe had a turnaround jumper blocked by Derrick White, but got one himself a few possessions later on an Anferee Simons layup attempt.
- In a pretty rare sight for this team’s first quarters so far, both offenses cooled down a considerable bit. Part of that sloppiness came from Adem Bona, who continues to struggle offensively. He’s just got to get softer hands — he once again just missed a couple passes swung his way. Maxey got a few threes to fall, and another source that was somewhat reliable was Oubre’s drives. He was able take Brown off the dribble a few times and get to that two-footed floater, making three of his first four shots on the night.
- Jared McCain checked in a little earlier in this one, still looking for his points of the season as he got another decent looking midrange jumper that didn’t fall, and got called for a charge the next time down the floor. For once the Sixers’ defense looked alright. Bona showed his value on that end of the court with a block and a couple of strong contests. The Celtics went the last 2:55 of the quarter without a field goal, allowing the Sixers to hold a one-point lead after one.
Second Quarter
- McCain had a harder time navigating around people to start the second. He had the ball poked away from him a couple of times but was able to recover both in the backcourt. The offense slowly chugged along, knocking down a three here and there. Edgecombe, who had been struggling to buy a bucket, got one to slowly roll in.
- This was probably Edwards’ best stretch of the season. He’s struggled to stay in the rotation this year but got an early chance. He knocked down a couple of threes, and had a nice and-1 driving to the basket finishing through the contact. He was the biggest reason the Sixers were able to extend their lead with Maxey on the bench, something that has not happened often this year.
- A big reason the Sixers’ defense looked pretty good was that they were able to keep Brown in check. He made only field goal in the half, coming with three minutes left in the second. Oubre has done a good job staying in front of him all year, but Watford got that assignment to close the half when Oubre picked up his third foul. Boston grabbing six more offensive rebounds than the Sixers is what really allowed them to hang around. The Sixers took a 10-point lead into the half.
Third Quarter
- It’s easier to not start the second half in a funk when neither team got in much of a rhythm in the first. That being said, the Sixers did surrender a 13-2 run to surrender the lead, one that even a quick timeout from Nurse didn’t stop. They ran really uninspired offense during this time — almost every possession ended with only a couple passes and a contested jumper.
- Maxey wasn’t getting a ton of space on his drives, but he was still able to stop the bleeding in that area after going scoreless in the second quarter. After only two free throws in the first half he quickly doubled that number. He’s averaging three more free throw attempts per game than any point in his career at 8.4 attempts.
- The Sixers did not play good offense in the quarter, but their bigger problem was that they no longer had Brown under control. A combination of Sixers’ defenders trying to stay out of foul trouble and Brown finally hitting shots from his spots helped him put up 14 points in the quarter. The Sixers really started to spiral as the quarter ended, turning it over on two of three last-minute possessions. A miraculous heave from Quentin Grimes falling at the buzzer made them lucky to cut the Boston lead to six.
Fourth Quarter
- Edgecombe is putting together a lot of impressive drives and coming away with nothing on just about all of them. It’s just a good reminder that his touch isn’t nearly as developed as he showed in his first couple of games. Grimes on the other hand was producing on his drives to start the quarter, which really buoyed the Sixers’ offense.
- A quick rotation note is that McCain did not play at all in the second half. It’s just got to be so hard to get going in any sort of way playing so infrequently.
- Edwards really needed a game like this, and the Sixers needed more contributions badly as well. After he manufactured a fast break dunk, the Celtics stretched their lead back out to eight. Edwards singlehandedly answered that, knocking down a three on three straight possessions to retake the lead — one of those set up by really nice Edgecombe block on Brown at the rim.
- Edgecombe finally got another bounce to drop his way — he got a three to fall in to extend the lead to four after a couple trips to the line from Maxey. The Celtics were able to answer with a three of their own from White. Maxey took a tough, contested midrange turnaround that didn’t go.
- After Queta hit a ball off the rim that was maybe going for Boston, Maxey missed a similarly tough shot. Brown then drew Oubre’s fifth foul of the game. He split the pair though, tying the game with just over 30 seconds left. Maxey passed out of iso to an open Edwards, who missed the three but was tipped back by Oubre with just 8.7 seconds to go. Boston’s possession was broken by White fumbling the ball and they hardly got a shot off. It should have been prettier but the Sixers will take it.
