Tatum’s double-double just enough

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum had made just one of his first six shots against Philadelphia when Celtics coach Ime Udoka came to him with a pep talk of sorts.

“I told him it would be nice to make a shot,” Udoka said. “He looked up at me and said, ‘I’ve got nine rebounds.’ ”

Tatum scored 26 points with a career-high 16 rebounds Wednesday night, shaking off a slow start and a hard fourth-quarter fall to lead Boston to an 88-87 victory over the 76ers.

Tatum scored 11 points in the fourth, and Robert Williams III blocked Georges Niang’s shot at the buzzer to give the Celtics a victory in their first game this season against their longtime Eastern Conference rivals and former coach Doc Rivers.

It was Boston’s lowest scoring total for a win in almost four years.

“I’m not really going to apologize for an ugly win,” Udoka said. “It happens.”

Al Horford, who left Boston to sign with the Sixers in 2019 and had the worst season of his career, had 10 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Getting shipped out from Philadelphia to Oklahoma City the following year was “a very low point for me,” he said.

“I was written off,” he said. “I’m just glad I got another opportunity in a place I want to be. There’s a lot of satisfaction being back here and

playing at a high level.”

Horford also helped hold Joel Embiid to 3-of-17 shooting.

“We challenged him to take pride in that matchup,” Udoka said. “[Embiid is] a guy he knows well, playing with him, playing against him . ... He’s a prideful guy. One stop, one blip on the radar doesn’t define his entire career, and I think he’s shown who he really is.”

Embiid had 18 rebounds and 13 points for the Sixers. Seth Curry scored 17 points and Shake Milton came off the bench to add 16.