Kyrie Irving scored a game high 40 points, including a late shot in regulation to tie it, and two clutch three pointers in overtime to lead the Boston Celtics to a 121-114 overtime win over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas evening at TD Garden in Boston. Boston now has a two game winning streak, after ending a three game slide with a 119-103 home win over Charlotte on Sunday.
Philadelphia (22-13) took an early six point in this one, before Boston took their first lead on an Irving hoop, two of his 16 first quarter points with 5:04 to go in the opening quarter. The Celts later increased it to a 10 point advantage on a Jaylen Brown bucket. Boston was able to hold a lead of seven after one, and continued to lead at the half 57-51. The hosts increased the lead back to 10 at 73-63 in the third quarter, before the 76ers charged back to end the third. Joel Embiid hit a pair of free throws to give Philadelphia their first lead since early in the first with 1:57 left in the quarter. The guests ended the last 4:26 of the third period on a 15-5 run and led 89-86 headed to the fourth.
Both teams swapped the lead early in the final 12 minutes, before Philly went on a quick 7-0 spurt to take a 98-91 lead with 8:13 left. Boston responded once again with an 11-3 run of their own, and took the lead once again when Jayson Tatum hit a free throw with 4:53 to go, 102-101. After Irving scored on a driving finger roll to the basket with 1:29 left to make it 106-105 Celtics, Tyson Chandler knocked down a three pointer with 36 seconds remaining making it 108-106 in favor of the 76ers. Irving hit a tough fadeaway jumper over Jimmy Butler that hit the front of the rim and the back of the rim before dropping in with 20 seconds left to tie it up. JJ Reddick missed a jumper at the buzzer on the other end sending the game to an extra session.
Philadelphia took control early in overtime on two free throws from Embiid, a jumper by Butler, and then a technical foul shot by Reddick after a technical was called on the Celtics Marcus Smart made it 113-108. But then a dunk by Tatum and a alley-oop layup by Hayward from Irving cut it to 113-112. Ben Simmons made 1-2 from the line for Philly to make it a two point advantage, before Irving made consecutive three pointers just 32 seconds apart at the 2:01 and 1:29 marks to put the Celtics up 118-114. Tatum and Hayward went 3-4 from the line in the closing seconds to secure the win. The 76ers had 19 turnovers to just nine for the Celtics, leading to 25 Boston points off those miscues.
Irving added 10 rebounds and three assists to his point total, shooting 17-33 from the floor and 5-10 from three point range. Tatum also had a double double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Marcus Morris also had 23 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Terry Rozier chipped in 10 points and five rebounds. Embiid had a huge game for Philadelphia, finishing with 34 points, 16 rebounds, and two blocked shots. Butler had 24 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Reddick had 17 points, while Chandler 15, and Ben Simmons 11 also figured in double digit scoring. The 76ers were coming off a 126-101 rout of the top team in the East the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Boston (20-13), now just one game behind Philadelphia for fourth in the Eastern Conference, hits the road to battle the Houston Rockets in Texas on Thursday night at 8 pm.
