Celtics lose a heartbreaker in Philly, 102-100

After a bad first half, the Celtics fought back in the third quarter but came up just short in Philadelphia, ultimately losing 102-100 to the 76ers. Jordan Walsh had a great game with 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks while Jaylen Brown had 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists and Derrick White had 18 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds.

The Celtics put out the same starting five they have put out for every game since the fourth game of the season with Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Josh Minott and Neemias Queta. For the 76ers, Joel Embiid did not play, along with Paul George who hasn’t played at all this season. As a result, Philadelphia started Tyrese Maxey, V.J. Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., Trenton Watford and Andre Drummond.

It was also the debut of the Celtics’ new City Edition jerseys.

After a good start for the Celtics, Philadelphia rattled off 7 straight points to put them up 14-11, leading to a Joe Mazzulla timeout. Anfernee Simons and Sam Hauser were the first two Celtics off of the bench.

After one quarter, Philly led the Celtics 23-22. Simons led the team in scoring with 5 points off of the bench with Jaylen Brown was 0/5 from the field.

It was a tough first half of the 2nd quarter for the Celtics, they were outscored 15-7 during the first 5:34 of the quarter, capped off by a 9-0 Sixers run.

However, Jordan Walsh’s activity stood out in a big way in the first half. In the first half, he had 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block — those are the little things the Celtics need from him right now. He needs to be active to stay on the floor and he has done that very well over the last few games. The shooting struggles remain however. He was 1-5 in the first half, but if he can figure that out, even just a little bit, he has a chance to become a real piece for the Celtics.

The Celtics trailed the Sixers 51-41 at the half with Simons, Brown and Luka Garza leading the team in scoring with 7 points while Andre Drummond led the game in scoring with 10 points to go along with 6 rebounds. Boston went 4/21 from three in the first half.

Brown finally started to hit some shots in the third quarter, he scored 14 points going 5/7 from two point range and 1/1 from three. Derrick White also chipped in 13 points.

Quinton Grimes ended the quarter with a half court buzzer beater.

However, that could not takeaway from what a great quarter it was for the Celtics. They outscored the 76ers 36-20, leading the game 77-71 at the end of three. Jaylen led the team with 21 points while White was the only other Celtic in double figures with 15.

The Celtics got off to a good start to the fourth but the Sixers reclaimed the lead with 4:40 to go in the game behind a flurry of Justin Edwards threes. Edwards hit his first 8 shots of the game, including 5 three pointers.

A V.J. Edgecombe three put Philly up 4 but after a pair of Sixers fouls, Derrick White hit a deep three to cut the lead back to one. Jaylen Brown stepped up to the line with a chance to take the lead but he went 1/2 and only tied the game.

Justin Edwards ended his perfect streak but offensive rebounding came back to bite the Celtics again and Kelly Oubre’s putback put the Sixers up 102-100 with 8.7 seconds left.

The Celtics had one more chance but Derrick White was stripped by Andre Drummond and had to force up a prayer. Neemias Queta got the offensive rebound but missed the tip in and the Sixers outlasted the Celtics 102-100. The Celtics shot 39% from the field and 34% from three while Philly shot 43% from the field and 39% from three.

The Celtics next game is Wednesday at home against the Memphis Grizzlies at 7:30 EST.