BOSTON — The last time the Celtics were swept in a season series by the Philadelphia 76ers was nearly two decades ago.
Allen Iverson was the marquee player when the Sixers took all four games from the Celtics in the 2000-01 season.
After winning the first three games against the Celtics this season, the 76ers looked primed to finish off a clean sweep in their fourth meeting on Saturday night at the TD Garden.
The Celtics were playing without their top [...]
BOSTON — The last time the Celtics were swept in a season series by the Philadelphia 76ers was nearly two decades ago.
Allen Iverson was the marquee player when the Sixers took all four games from the Celtics in the 2000-01 season.
After winning the first three games against the Celtics this season, the 76ers looked primed to finish off a clean sweep in their fourth meeting on Saturday night at the TD Garden.
The Celtics were playing without their top scorer, Kemba Walker, and leading rebounder, Enes Kanter, who would have provided much needed size against Joel Embiid and Co.
But just when it looked like the Celtics were going to go winless against the Sixers this season, they put together one of their better performances with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum leading the way.
Brown had 32 points despite missing 9 of 10 shots from 3-point range and Tatum scored 25 in a 116-95 victory over the Sixers, giving the Celtics three straight wins and six in the last seven games.
Brown, who was left off the NBA All-Star team two days earlier, finished with nine rebounds and was 12 for 13 on two-point shots.
“He’s been really good,’’ said coach Brad Stevens. “I said the other day it’s more important to be playing like an all-star than to be named one. Nobody exemplifies that better. He’s done a great job. He played really well (Thursday) but tonight he was really good, very aggressive and good at picking his spots.’’
Marcus Smart added 16 points and the Celtics got a boost from reserves Brad Wanamaker (15), Semi Ojeleye (11 points, five rebounds) and Grant Williams (three offensive rebounds and solid defense). Tacko Fall even got to play the final 2:32 after hearing his named chanted throughout the fourth quarter and hit a hook shot.
Ben Simmons led the Sixers with 23 points and nine rebounds, but Embiid, who was effectively guarded by Daniel Theis, had only four points on 1 for 11 shooting in just 23 minutes.
“He’s not going to have that kind of night very often,’’ said Stevens of Embiid. “He’s an unreal player. We have the utmost respect for him. I thought Theis played as hard as he could. But you can play as hard as you can against that guy sometimes and the ball goes in and there’s not much you can do about it. We’re just trying to make it as hard as possible.’’
Al Horford went 1 for 6 on 3-pointers and had nine points and nine rebounds for the Sixers, who made just 37 percent of their shots and werer 7 for 33 on 3-pointers.
The Celtics trailed only once at 2-0 in the opening minute and were in front by double digits for most of the night. The Celtics (33-15) remain tied for third place in the Eastern Conference and are three games up on the sixth-place 76ers (31-19).
Following three losses to the Sixers, including one on opening night in October, the Celtics broke through even without Walker and Kanter.
“First of all, I think they’re excellent, well coached, really good players, great size,’’ Stevens said of Philadelphia prior to the win. “They do have some matches that are difficult for everybody.
“But I don’t read too much into (losing three in a row). I never feel good when we’ve won a few games against a team. I certainly understand there’s a lot we have to do well to win the games and your margin for error is smaller against a team this talented. But each game is it’s own entity.’’
After having a 16-point lead cut to eight at halftime, the Celtics outscored the Sixers, 27-16, in the third quarter to take an 86-67 lead into the final 12 minutes.
Brown scored 11 of his points in the quarter while the Sixers went 5 for 19 and missed 9 of 10 shots from 3-point land.
The Celtics had a 10-point lead early in the second half, then went on a 10-2 run with Brown scoring four of the points for a 71-53 lead. A Brown basket with 3:42 remaining pushed the lead to 79-57.
In the fourth quarter, the Sixers opened on a 9-3 run to get within 89-76 with 9:01 to go, but the Celtics scored seven points in a row, five from Tatum, to end the threat.
After leading by as many as 16 points in the second quarter, the Celtics were ahead, 59-51, at halftime with Simmons getting the 76ers close.