Irving stars as Boston bounce back against Philly
BOSTON: Kyrie Irving scored 36 points as the Boston Celtics bounced back to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers.
Boston, beaten by Detroit in their last outing on Monday, held off a determined Sixers fightback in the third period to complete a 108-97 win on Thursday.
The victory at the TD Garden saw Boston improve to 19-4 to tighten their grip at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
Irving led the scoring and also contributed four rebounds and three assists, one of four Boston players to make double figures.
Al Horford weighed in with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Marcus Morris came off the bench to contribute 17 points. Jayson Tatum added 15 points.
Irving and Morris compiled a 17-7 run in the fourth quarter that eventually decided the game, giving Boston their ninth win from their last 10 home games.
The home crowd were chanting “M-V-P” at Irving once again in recognition of another virtuoso display.
“I say all the time how spoiled we are to coach guys at this level,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said of Irving.
“He’s certainly one of the most gifted scorers in the game and he can do things with just a tiny amount of space and make it look easy.”
The Sixers meanwhile fell to 12-9 after the defeat, with Croatian power forward Dario Saric leading their scoring with 18 points.
In-form Sixers big man Joel Embiid – who has averaged nearly 23 points per game this season – was sat for the game.
Ben Simmons meanwhile was kept quiet, with the Celtics defence restricting the Australian star to 15 points.
Simmons also committed five turnovers as the relentless Celtics defence turned the screw on the Sixers star.
J.J. Redick had 17 points while Robert Covington (11), Jerryd Bayless (10), and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (11) also cracked double digits.
“We were playing the Boston Celtics, the best team in basketball, and I give them credit on doing some good things defensively,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said.
“I think that the Celtics’ defence is elite.”