It’s usually an NBA shock, a long-standing antagonism, a poster fans have been waiting for. Boston, which received Philadelphia at TD Garden on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, was the opposition of two sick teams: one, the Celtics, for their ups and downs, the other, the Sixers, after a Covid episode which made them dive. And it is the premises of coach Ime Udoka, well led by Jayson Tatum (26 points, 16 rebounds) and a whole collective who emerged victorious from the meeting (88-87).
– –
Enough to place Boston in 8th place in the East (12-10), while Philly remains out of the play-offs, in 11th place, with a balance sheet just in balance (11-11). But how hard it was for the players in the city of Massachusetts.
– –
The whole meeting was incredibly close, from start to finish, Tatum responding to Joel Embiid, huge in the racket and well recovered from a long Covid absence (13 points, 18 rebounds, 3 blocks and 6 assists!). Opposite, his ex-teammate Al Horford will have tried to limit the influence of the Cameroonian pivot (10 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks).
– –
The duel was a tense mano a mano, with little lead for each leading team. If Boston was ahead at the end of the game (80-76), the lead changed 16 times, in a game with a small score. The shots of Seth Curry (17 points) or Shake Milton (16 points) will have allowed the Sixers to stay in the game during the last quarter, started with one point ahead of Boston (64-63).
– –
Two minutes from the end, perfectly tied (82-82), Tatum split with a perfect backing shot, right side of the racket. Two free throws from Schröder later, the C’S had finally managed to widen a small gap, for the first time in the game. Embiid then a three points from Danny Green brought back the Sixers (88-87).
– –
It was wasted this time, since a decisive counter from Robert Williams on Georges Niang’s three-point attempt, with his fingertips, put an end to this thrilling chase (see below). But one thing is certain, one of the Eastern classics saw two teams with more colors than a few weeks ago.
– – .
