BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers walked away with an impressive 119-115 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in the absence of Joel Embiid on Monday. They did so mostly due to the heroics of James Harden, but they received a big boost from the bench.
De’Anthony Melton hopped off the bench and poured in 17 huge points including knocking his first five 3s of the night. The Sixers do not win this game without his contributions. Especially, in the first half when the Celtics couldn’t miss a shot.
“Oh my God,” coach Doc Rivers said. “James and De’Anthony pretty much saved us in the first half. That game could’ve gotten away from us. De’Anthony Melton just makes shots. He really does. He was just ready to play, made big shots, made some great defensive plays with his hands.”
There was a stretch in the second quarter with Harden on the bench that the Sixers needed somebody to provide some offense. Melton obliged. He scored 14 points in the second quarter, including shooting 4-for-4 from deep which was a huge help in this one.
“I felt good coming in today (Monday). Honestly,” Melton said. “Just the energy around the whole team, going around the whole organization was just m good vibes and stuff like that. So I just wanted to go out there and play with confidence. Jo going down, it’s more attempts, more shots out there, more opportunity so just trying to take advantage of everything. My teammates was trusting me so I just kept shooting.”
The Sixers will need another effort like this one from Melton in Game 2 of this series on Wednesday.
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