By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly Staff
A trip to the TD Garden in Boston was on the agenda for the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night as they traveled to take on the Celtics. Division rivals, a battle between fan favorites Isaiah Thomas and Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons traveling with the team on the road were just a few of the many storylines going into the matchup.
One thing is for sure, the Sixers know how to start basketball games and gain momentum as they progress, it's just a little harder to close out games on a nightly basis. However, the Sixers played with immense heart as they took on the Celtics.
At the end of the first half the Sixers led 62-51, and it looked as if there was no turning back, that they would actually be able to close out a game under the momentum of tremendous first half play from Joel Embiid and T.J. McConnell. In fact, the Sixers were up as much as 12 points at the beginning of the second half, when the Celtics started to claw back into the game and eventually take over towards the end.
Celtics center Al Horford was one of the main cogs of why the team had such a big fourth quarter. Horford had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and shot 4-of-5 from downtown, including a dagger from three to put the Celtics up in the closing seconds.
Avery Bradley tacked on 26 points, and Isaiah Thomas put up 24 points and finished the game with the Garden crowd chanting 'MVP.'
The Sixers got major scoring help from Ersan Ilyasova with his 20 points, three assists, two steals, and two blocks. Embiid led the team in scoring with 23 points and eight rebounds. He fouled out of the game with a couple seconds left on the clock.
Gerald Henderson scored 18 points off the bench and T.J. McConnell might just have been the story of the night with nine points, and 17 assists. Yes, you heard that right, SEVENTEEN assists. No wonder Brett Brown has had a keen eye for the scrappy point guard.
Nerlens Noel got quality minutes off the bench as well as he scored 13 points, had eight boards, two assists, two steals, and three blocks on the night.
It looked as if the Sixers were going to be able to steal a victory from one of their biggest rivals, but the Celtics offense on their parquet court was too much to handle in the waning minutes of the ballgame. The Celtics take the victory over the Sixers, 110-106.
The 76ers fall to 9-25 on the year, and will look for their 10th victory of the season on Sunday January 8, at the Brooklyn Nets at 12 p.m. ET.
