Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers Box Score on Oct 20, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 20, 2017

PHILADELPHIA -- Kyrie Irving scored seven of his 21 points in a game-ending 18-8 run as the short-handed Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102-92 on Friday night to earn their first victory of the season.

Al Horford added 17 points and nine rebounds for Boston, which lost newly acquired forward Gordon Hayward, likely for the season, to a dislocated left ankle and fractured tibia in Tuesday's opener in Cleveland.

The Celtics (1-2) were also without starting guard Marcus Smart, who sprained both ankles in Wednesday's home opener to Milwaukee, and forward Marcus Morris, who is out with a knee injury.

Horford's basket with 6:48 left snapped an 84-84 tie, and rookie Jayson Tatum added a jumper to put Boston up by four. Irving then sandwiched two jumpers around a layup by Philadelphia's Robert Covington to make it 92-86.

With 1:34 left and the Celtics leading 95-90, Irving drew a foul from Jerryd Bayless on a 3-point attempt. He made all three free throws to give Boston a 98-90 cushion.

J.J. Redick scored 19 points and Bayless added 18 for the Sixers (0-2). Joel Embiid had 11 points and 14 rebounds, but missed his first eight shots and finished 4 of 16 from the floor. Rookie Ben Simmons had 11 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Philadelphia went 6:43 without a field goal beginning midway through the first quarter, enabling Boston to go up 29-21 early in the second.

The Sixers drew even courtesy of their 3-point sniping. They made four in the opening minutes of the second quarter, the last by Redick to forge a 37-37 tie.

Boston surged back in front, but Simmons notched the first five points in a 7-0 run at the end of the half, putting Philadelphia ahead, 50-46.

Simmons had nine points and eight rebounds in the half, while Irving topped the Celtics with 12 points.

The Sixers also tacked on the first five points of the second half to go up by nine, and maintained the lead the rest of the third quarter. The Celtics did close the gap to 72-69 on a tip-in at the buzzer by Aron Baynes.

Boston assumed its first lead of the half, 82-80, on Horford's 3-pointer with 8:04 left. The game was tied on two more occasions before Horford's jump hook from the right baseline with 6:48 remaining put the Celtics ahead to stay, 86-84.

NOTES: Boston coach Brad Stevens said F Gordon Hayward, who underwent surgery on Wednesday, left the hospital Friday. In his absence, Stevens said, there will be "significant tweaks" to the Boston offense -- that the Celtics will run more of it through the post than originally planned. ... Sixers coach Brett Brown said a decision has not yet been made as to whether C Joel Embiid will play Saturday night in Toronto. Embiid, who missed his first two seasons because of foot injuries, did not play the second game in back-to-back situations before he was lost to a knee injury last season. This year, Brown said, the medical staff will weigh the number of minutes Embiid plays, as well as how taxing those minutes were, before rendering a verdict "in consultation with Joel."