PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers were playing well in a huge matchup with the Boston Celtics on Saturday night. Everything was going their way, and they built a 67-52 lead in the third on a James Harden step back 3.
After that, it was all downhill.
The Celtics ended the third on a 28-11 run to take the lead entering the fourth quarter, and they built a 10-point lead in the final frame. Give the Sixers credit for rallying and taking the lead back, but they weren’t able to pull out the win when Jayson Tatum drilled a triple in the closing seconds to give the Celtics a win.
The loss spoiled another masterful game from Joel Embiid, who had 41 points. Former Sixer Al Horford hit five 3s after halftime, and he was the main catalyst for Boston’s comeback.
“We relaxed,” said Embiid after the loss. “Obviously, Al made a couple of huge 3s and Tatum got a little bit going in that third quarter, too. Before that, he was not very good, and we just obviously being up 15, I felt like we just relaxed. I mean, I was on the floor. With the guys that were on the floor, we were not as clinical as we were before that period of time. It’s all of us. We just gotta be better.”
The Celtics are the defending Eastern Conference champions and they have been through battles such as this one to become as battle-hardened as they are. The Sixers are still learning.
“We keep saying it, to be able to play against good teams,” Embiid continued. “I feel like I have experience, but I’ve never won anything, but I kind of feel like I know what it takes to get there because I’ve come up short a few times. I think you just got to stick with it. When you’re playing against good teams, you can’t relax.”
The Sixers have to understand they have to put together a complete game to win in the playoffs. Recently, they have blown leads and they have rallied from large deficits. Both are part of the learning process.
Saturday was another lesson.
“It’s a 48-minute game,” Embiid finished. “You go up by 15 and next thing you know, they take the lead going into the fourth just because we didn’t have the same mentality that we had until that time. You just got to, you know, stick to your concept and just be as forceful as possible.”
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