BOSTON – What a difference one week and 3,269 miles can make.
Last Thursday, the Celtics faced a 22-point deficit in the first half against the Philadelphia 76ers and brushed it off like a speck of dandruff during a 41-point turnaround and 11-point victory at London's O2 Arena.
In the rematch at TD Garden, the Celtics again went down 20, and this time had no answer without Kyrie Irving due to a sore left shoulder, as the 76ers dominated most of the final three quarters of a 89-80 victory.
The Celtics put a charge into crowd late in cutting a 21-point deficit down to seven – with three different chances to make it a two-possession game - but a series of misses in the final two minutes sealed their fate.
While the Celtics were without their All-Star starter, Philadelphia rode the dominance of its first-time All-Star as Joel Embiid controlled everything about the game on his way to 26 points, 16 rebounds and six assists.
Al Horford had a pedestrian 14 points after scoring eight in the first quarter, while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were a combined 8-for-23 on the night. The brightest spots for Boston came off the bench where Marcus Morris scored 14 points to go with six rebounds and Marcus Smart had 13 points.
Boston lost for the second straight game, after winning their previous seven, and came up short of the season sweep against the 76ers in their worst offensive performance of the season.
Down 18 after three quarters, and as many as 21 in the fourth, the Celtics showed little signs of life until a Horford 3-pointer and Smart drive made it a 7-0 run for an 80-66 game with 6:48 to play. A second Smart basket in a row matched a 76ers score, Smart drew on offensive foul, but Shane Larkin’s bid to get the crowd on its feet was off the mark with 5:13 to play.
Ben Simmons scored inside for an 84-68 game with 4:54 left and Tatum got to the line for a free throws with 4:38 to play. Brown cut the gap to 84-72 on a three-point play with 3:38 remaining and the Celtics drew an offensive foul on Simmons on the next possession.
Horford cut the gap to 11 with one of two free throws with 2:45 to go. But Embiid got to the line for an 86-73 game with 2:38 to play.
Brown’s 3-pointer with 2:23 to go made it a 10-point game and Tatum’s 3-pointer cut the gap to seven with 2:00 to go. After an offensive foul on the 76ers, Horford was off the mark on a 3-pointer, but the 76ers committed a shot-clock violation with 1:17 to play.
Brown and Horford then each had 3-pointers to cut it to four rim out and the 76ers whittled the clock down to 33.2 seconds left before a foul.
T.J. McConnell’s free throws stretched the gap to nine with 31.7 seconds left, and Tatum made one free throw from the line with 27.7 seconds left, but that’s a close as Boston could get.
The first half was a brutal display of basketball for both teams – especially for the Celtics, who committed 15 turnovers and shot just 15.4 percent (2-for-13) on 3-pointers.
Down two after one quarter, the Celtics fell behind 11 points midway through the second quarter before a Horford basket and 29-foot Smart 3-pointer made it a 34-28 game with 4:25 on the clock.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens went 11 deep into the rotation trying to find a combination that could hold onto the ball and get a good shot, but never really came up with one as the Celtics stumbled to just 32 points in the half and hit the break down seven.
It got worse in the third quarter as Philadelphia went up 14 when Brown hit his first shot of the night in his seventh attempt for a 48-37 game with 7:48 on the clock. The 76ers then pushed the lead to 17 when the Celtics rattled off six in a row with a Smart basket, Morris taking Boston’s first free throws of the game with 3:39 on the clock, and Larkin’s steal and layup making it 56-45 with 3:22 left.
The run was short-lived.
The 76ers were able to push the lead to 18 by the end of the quarter and hit the fourth up 71-53.