Boston Celtics pay Philadelphia Sixers back with a 92-79 decision: NBA Recap
After an overtime thriller on Friday, the Philadelphia Sixers and Boston Celtics faced each other again on Saturday in less than 24 hours time. Philadelphia were looking for a similar kind of result but the Celtics came back strongly
and avenged a one point heartbreak with a 92-79 win here at TD Garden, Boston.
Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 19 points, going 9 out of 11 from the floor and Jeff Green came off the bench to collect 16 points. Rajon Rondo, who came into this game after his first triple-double of the season, dished out
11 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds on the night while Paul Pierce added 13 points.
"I love the way we responded tonight. A lot of guys were mad for the fact we lost yesterday [to the Sixers] and we wanted to take it out on them today. We came up with something to prove." Paul Pierce commented on losing to Sixers
the previous night.
Thaddeus Young scored the night high 22 points; Evan Turner posted 13 points while Jrue Holiday chipped in with 11 for the Sixers.
The Sixers struggled to score baskets in the first half against an inspired Celtics defence and shot only 23.1 percent. The Celtics meant business right from the word go and a Brandon Bass jumper had them up 8-2. Later on, Jason
Terry nailed a three pointer to kick off an 8-1 run for the Celtics that pushed them to 22-12. The Phillies were trailing 16-24 by the end of the period.
Garnett opened the second period for the Celtics with two back to back deuces to put them up by 28-16. The Celtics took of the control as a Pierce free throw opened up a 14 point advantage for them early in the quarter. They continued
to pull ahead and a 9 zip run pushed their lead to 45-24 with 1:59 to go in the half. By the end of the period, the Greens were leading 48-28.
The Celtics maintained their 20 point advantage for a while and a Garnett jumper had them up 56-36 early in the period. The Phillies came back with an 11-0 run to reduce the deficit down to 57-65 before Boston scored the final
5 points to head into the final period, leading 70-57.
Jeff Green scored one from behind the arc to put the Celtics up 75-59 early in the fourth and comfortably went on to win this one.
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