Rip-roaring rally time
Tatum, Rozier key C’s to 2-0 series lead
Brett Brown said that those weren’t the real Sixers in a Game 1 loss, and indeed a sharper, more determined version would took the floor last night.
But after hitting a peak lead of 22 points in the second quarter, Philadelphia’s edge slowly dissolved, as the Celtics, despite some spotty offense, once again found their way back in through a crack.
The Celts took a 2-0 second-round series lead with last night’s 108-103 win at the Garden with rookie Jayson Tatum (21 points) and Terry Rozier (20 points, four 3-pointers, nine assists, seven rebounds) driving the C’s back out of that first-half hole.
Jaylen Brown, after a day of work to make sure his tender right hamstring would hold up, made his first appearance of the series with 13 points on 5-for12 shooting.
And Al Horford’s drive past Joel Embiid with 8.3 seconds left put the game out of reach for the Sixers, and capped a 12-point, 13-rebound, five-assist performance by the Celtics center.
The Celts thus survived a scorching 23-point, fivetrey performance from J.J. Redick, and also once again survived a 22-point, 14-rebound double-double by Embiid. But rookie of the year frontrunner Ben Simmons (one point, 0-for-4, seven assists) never found his groove.
Tatum’s alley-oop transition dunk, courtesy of a Rozier pass from halfcourt, gave the Celtics a 103-97 lead with 2:23 left.
Embiid launched a 26foot miss, Marcus Smart went 1-for-2 from the line, and after a miss on each side, Robert Covington cut the Celtics lead to 104-99 with a drive with 1:11 left.
Brad Stevens called a timeout with 11 seconds left in the next possession, which was starting to unravel in the face of some aggressive trapping. Tatum was stripped during a drive with two seconds left on the shot clock, with the Celts retaining possession. His buzzer heave missed, Dario Saric cut the lead to 104-101 with 30 seconds left, and after the Celts ran down the clock, Horford drove from the top of the circle for a 106-101 lead with 8.3 seconds left.
The Celtics, with a foul to give, fouled Embiid, and on the ensuing inbounds allowed Saric a layup.
To chants of “he’s a rookie,” a shot intended for Simmons, Tatum then put the game to bed with a free throw with 3.4 seconds left.
Covington’s 3-pointer gave Philadelphia a 91-88 lead with seven minutes left, with the shot coming in the midst of a 9-2 run for a 93-88 lead.
Rozier answered from downtown with 5:30 left, cutting the lead to two points. Embiid picked up his fifth foul sending Horford to the line, where he hit twice with 4:54 left for the tie.
Embiid canned a 15-footer, but Morris, 2-for-7 to this point, rebounded a Smart miss, dribbled back out to the arc, and buried the 3-pointer.
Tatum sent Saric to the line for two with a foul loudly questioned by the crowd. But Rozier drove for a 101-97 lead, and when Redick missed from the left, Rozier pushed the ball and hit Tatum with a fast break alley-oop pass for a 103-97 lead with 2:23 left.
The Celtics opened the fourth with a 79-75 lead, were immediately tied when T.J. McConnell opened the fourth with a pair of drives, briefly lost the lead on a Covington 3, and forced another Philly timeout when Morris hit a three from the top of the circle, followed by Brown’s dunk off a Morris feed for an 86-82 lead with 9:03 left.
Redick immediately curled to the top of the circle for his fifth 3-pointer of the night, cutting the Celtics lead to a point with 8:45 left, and moving ahead by two on an Embiid 3-pointer.
Tatum tied the score from the line, but Covington hit from downtown again, this time for a 91-88 Philly edge. The Celtics thus trailed by three points heading into the last seven minutes.