Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points and had 12 assists to help the Philadelphia 76ers defeat the Boston Celtics 118-114 on Wednesday.
Joel Embiid contributed 27 points and 9 rebounds, while Caleb Martin added 23 points, hitting 7 out of 9 from three-point range.
The Celtics, who were down by 15 points in the fourth quarter, narrowed the gap to 116-114 with just 4.9 seconds remaining. However, Embiid made two free throws, putting the 76ers up by four with 2.8 seconds left. Philadelphia has now won six of its last eight games.
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 32 points and 15 rebounds. Jaylen Brown added 23 points and 7 rebounds but struggled with his shooting, making only 10 of 23 attempts. Payton Pritchard missed all of his eight three-point attempts.
Boston had just lost 108-104 to the Orlando Magic on Monday, and this marked their second consecutive loss of the season.
Jrue Holiday was out for Boston due to a right shoulder injury, and the Celtics played much of the game without Kristaps Porzingis, who injured his left ankle and didn’t return for the second half.
The 76ers were also missing Andre Drummond, who had his first game off since December 4 due to a sprained left toe. Drummond leads the team in rebounding with an average of 8.0 boards per game.
Philadelphia led 30-25 after the first quarter and extended its lead to 52-36 after a 17-2 run capped by a Paul George dunk with 5:22 remaining in the first half. They finished the half with a 66-58 advantage, even though Boston made 13 out of 28 three-pointers in the first two quarters.
The Celtics tied the game 74-74 with a Brown three-pointer and took a 78-76 lead with a Tatum jumper at 4:03 in the third quarter. Boston led by as much as four points in the quarter, but the game was tied 82-82 heading into the fourth.
Philadelphia started the final quarter with a 12-2 run and went ahead 94-84 after a Maxey jump shot with 8:50 remaining. The 76ers extended their lead to 103-88 after a Martin three-pointer with 6:37 left.
