After Kristaps Porzingis blocked a shot on the defensive end, the Celtics had an opportunity to run in transition down 18 points to the shorthanded 76ers. Jrue Holiday pushed up-court then found Derrick White in transition as he readied for an open layup.
But White missed. Then six seconds later, the Sixers found Guerschon Yabusele for a 3-pointer, one of their 15 makes from deep on the night. So instead of a 16-point deficit, the Celtics were down 21. That’s when White thought C’s coach Joe Mazzulla was going to pull the starters.
“Honestly, I thought he might do it after the layup and then the 3,” White told reporters in Philadelphia. “But just kind of let us get out there and try to make a little bit of a run. We were able to make that run at the end of the third to cut it to 14. I think we all felt pretty confident up to that point that we could get back into this game.”
Of course, Mazzulla never called off the dogs. Instead, the Celtics responded despite the consistent setbacks and the droves of 3s the Sixers knocked down. They cut a 26-point third-quarter deficit down to 14 by the end of the quarter. Then they blitzed the Sixers in the fourth, outscoring them by 22 points to complete easily their largest comeback win of the season.
Mazzulla revealed he could tell his starters weren’t ready to quit, so he kept them in the game. Jayson Tatum said their coach challenged them at halftime — they responded. While the third quarter featured even more adversity as the Sixers seemingly couldn’t miss, the Celtics kept battling.
“We just had to be honest with ourselves at halftime,” Tatum said. “They had 20 points in transition. Our competitive spirit wasn’t where it needed to be. Joe was like, ‘Yo, if you’re tired. Just tell me. I’ll sit you guys down. Let the stay ready group play.’ We just had a choice to make. … We just had to keep fighting. They brought the best out of us.”
The Celtics were at their best through the final quarter with Tatum leading the charge. The C’s star finished with 35 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists, including key moments down the stretch to close out the Sixers. White added another 17 points and nine assists as he also hit some big shots.
The victory makes it a three-game win streak for the Celtics, a rarity over the past couple months of mediocre basketball. But as Mazzulla pointed out, there are only so many moments in the regular season that are actually special. The Celtics performed up to that standard as part of the comeback win Sunday.
“We can’t forget who we are and what we’re capable of and the things that we’ve done,” Tatum said. “Not to use that as an excuse, but sometimes, we gotta remind ourselves who we are. We was down 18 to Indiana last year in Game 3 (of the East Finals). We’re familiar being in those situations. We just had to play with a little more swag.”
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