FILE–Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics. Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images/AFP
Jayson Tatum had 26 points and a career-high 16 rebounds as the Boston Celtics outlasted the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 88-87 in a matchup of Eastern Conference contenders on Wednesday night.
Dennis Schroder added 13 points off the bench for Boston, which won its second straight game and has won five out of seven overall.
Al Horford totaled 10 points and eight rebounds, Robert Williams III added 10 points and Jaylen Brown finished with nine points on 3-of-11 shooting for the Celtics.
☘ 26 PTS, 16 REB ☘@jaytatum0 led the @celtics in scoring and recorded a career-high in rebounds in the win! pic.twitter.com/OoSSDCFXdN
— NBA (@NBA) December 2, 2021
Brown played despite being questionable as the team continues to manage his return from a hamstring injury.
Seth Curry led the 76ers with 17 points. Shake Milton contributed 16 points off the bench while Boston-area native Georges Niang added 12 points for Philadelphia, which was defeated for the ninth time in 12 games.
76ers star Joel Embiid was held to 13 points on 3-of-17 shooting, but grabbed a game-high 18 boards and dished out six assists.
Boston led 44-40 at halftime and neither side was able to pull away in a back-and-forth closing half. The biggest separation came when Embiid knocked down a 3-pointer with 4:10 left in the third to put Philadelphia up 59-54.
The Celtics led 64-63 entering the fourth quarter. Embiid made one of two free throws with 2:14 to play to tie the game at 82. Boston scored six of the next eight points to go up 88-84 after Schroder’s five-footer with 37.1 seconds to play.
Danny Green nailed a trey with 29.6 seconds on the clock to bring the 76ers within a point. Schroder missed a jumper on the other end with seven seconds left to give the ball back to Philadelphia.
After a timeout with 6.1 seconds to play, Niang’s desperation corner 3 at the buzzer was blocked by Williams to seal the Boston victory.
Brown’s 3-pointer at 6:35 of the first quarter capped a game-opening 16-4 run for the Celtics. Tobias Harris’ ensuing dunk sparked a 16-5 push for the 76ers to pull within 21-20 after one period.