By William Armstead –
The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Boston Celtics by a score of 111-97 on Tuesday night. The series is now tied one game to one, as the Celtics will now travel to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Friday.
Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe combined for 59 points to lead the Sixers to victory. Edgecombe’s 30 points and 10 rebounds make him the first rookie to do so in a playoff game since Tim Duncan in 1998. Maxey scored 29 and dished out nine assists.
As a team, the Sixers shot an efficient 49 percent from three-point range and had five total players with double-digit points, showing a balanced scoring effort without their star center, Joel Embiid. Paul George contributed 19 points of his own to be the third leading scorer for the Sixers.
The Celtics came back at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the Sixers responded well, going on an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach.
As for the Celtics, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were the only players on the team who recorded double-digit scoring. Brown was the leading scorer with 36 points, while Tatum had a double-double, putting up 19 points and 14 rebounds.
The Celtics struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 26 percent, and also committed 13 costly turnovers.
The Celtics will look to bounce back in Game 3 with a performance similar to Game 1, where they dominated. Game 3 will be in Philadelphia in hostile territory. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. Friday, streaming on Prime Video.