Recap: Celtics win 5 in a row, beat the Sixers 108-89
BOSTON -- With the win tonight, Brad Stevens has his 1st 5-game winning streak of his NBA coaching career. It’s also the Celtics first 5-game win streak since Feb/March of 2013. Last season the Celtics went 1-3 against Philadelphia, this season...4-0. Pending the remaining games tonight, the Celtics are currently tied for 7th place in the East.
Philly came into the Garden tonight having lost 13 consecutive games away from home and averaging 87ppg, 2nd lowest in the league.
Isaiah Thomas sat out tonight for the 4th straight game and will remain out for at least 6 games, through Sunday.
Tonight's starting line-ups:
CELTICS Bass, Bradley, Smart, Turner and Zeller.
PHILADELPHIA Canaan, Mbah a Moute, Noel, Richardson and Thompson.
1st Half
The Celtics pushed out an 8 pt lead by the 7-minute mark of the first quarter. Zeller scored 8 straight points and 8 of Boston's first 15pts.
Boston went 4/4 on three-pointers in the opening quarter and logged zero turnovers.
Shooting 67%, the Celtics took a 20-point lead and held Philly to 18 points.
Midway through the 2nd quarter, Bradley + Zeller totaled 23 points. The 76ers totaled…24 points. Go Team Zelley.
At the half, Avery Bradley led all scorers with 13 points and 7 rebounds; 5/7 shooting and 3/3 three's. Turner had 10 points - shooting 5/8, with 3 boards and 4 assists. Kelly Olynyk was the only scoreless Celtic to hit the floor after one half of play.
Celtics finished the quarter 7/8 at the free throw line, 22/47 FG, .500 from 3-point land and 20 points in the paint.
Gigi Datome had 6 points in 7 minutes of first half play. Closing out the 1st quarter, Zeller and Bradley had 10 points apiece. Zeller was perfect from the line and Bradley pulled down 3 boards.
The half's biggest lead for Boston was 27.
1st half score: Celtics 57, Philadelphia 34.
2nd Half
The Sixers came out of the locker-room with what seemed to be a new found confidence but didn't make up any ground on Boston. Bradley kicked off the 2nd half continuing to be perfect from 3-point range, making his fourth of four attempts.
Evan Turner earned himself a flagrant 1 four minutes into the half, fouling Everett MA native Nerlens Noel. This was quickly followed by Canaan getting called for a kick-out foul against Bradley and a goaltending call for Noel. The third quarter gave us a gritty Marcus Smart drive to the basket. Fun fact from Mike Gorman -- Marcus has averaged 11ppg over 8 Monday night games. Zeller produced an 18-footer from where he's shooting 51%.
Olynyk had his first points of the game approaching the 2-minute mark in the 3rd.
Zeller and Bradley continued to duel it out for high scorer on the night with 18 points each. The third quarter ended with all 5 Celtics starters scoring in double digits. Boston was shooting 52% and up by 21.
Phil Pressey had his first basket on the night in the 4th quarter, off a left-handed reach-in steal. Datome resumed his hot hustle play with a big block midway through the half. With 5 minutes left in the half, Celtics were 9/11 at the free throw line.
Tyler Zeller won the scoring title on the night with 26 points (11/15). Not to be outdone, Avery Bradley contributed a double double; 20 pts, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
Gino time at the Garden sent Shavlik Randolph into the line-up.
Final score: 108-89.
Philadephia Notables: The 76ers committed 16 turnovers in the game.
Nerlens Noel scored a team high 18 points (7/15) and 7 boards. Thompson, Mbah a Moute, Canaan and Smith all scored double digits on the night for Philly.
Box Scores:
Up Next: The Celtics ship out of Boston to meet the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night for the first of 2-games on the road.
Read more from Steph on Celtics Life.
