BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers entered Wednesday night’s contest with the Boston Celtics looking to make a statement. They were a healthy group while the Celtics were missing three starters: Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Robert Williams III. Boston lost a fourth when Jaylen Brown sustained a facial fracture in the second quarter.
In place of Horford and Williams III, the Celtics started veteran Blake Griffin. The veteran was only playing in his 23rd game of the season, and he was averaging 3.8 points and shooting 32.1% from deep.
On Wednesday, Griffin knocked down five 3s with three coming in the first quarter, He finished with 15 points. His efforts helped the Celtics knock off the Sixers, 106-99. Boston knocked down 19 triples on 35 attempts.
“Us,” said James Harden when asked what went wrong on defense. “Blake Griffin hit three 3s, I think, in the beginning. He hit like five or six threes like no disrespect, but that can’t happen. That’s 15 points, 18 points that we’re giving up that it’s difficult to get back from. I think we did a solid job on JT. It can’t happen.”
Overall, Griffin shot 5-for-8 from deep and seven were wide-open looks. When asked if he felt disrespected that the Sixers were leaving him open, the veteran didn’t feel that way, but he was confused by Philadelphia’s lack of adjustments.
“I don’t really take it as disrespect,” said Griffin. “It hurt them. That was their game plan. Obviously, Doc (Rivers) makes that game plan. They didn’t adjust, which has been sort of a thing. No disrespect though.”
In the second half, Griffin knocked down two more wide-open looks as the Sixers had issues defending the Celtics and their barrage of 3-point shooting.
The Sixers will have to find a way to bounce back on Friday when they return home to host the New York Knicks.
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