Sixers’ rally falls short in 106-99 loss to undermanned Boston Celtics

BOSTON — Joel Embiid hoisted up a desperation three-pointer over two defenders at the end of the shot clock, and the TD Garden crowd rose to its collective feet before exploding after Jayson Tatum buried a 14-foot floater.

That bucket with 36.4 seconds to play squashed any hopes of a final rally by the 76ers, who lost, 106-99, to the Celtics Wednesday night in a prominent matchup against the Eastern Conference’s top team on the eve of the NBA trade deadline.

“I just didn’t ever think we had a lot of zip the entire night,” coach Doc Rivers said. “[We] played flat the entire night. We had wide-open shots all night, but didn’t make them. But that can’t be a factor. You’re going to have games like that.

“I really didn’t think we played with the right spirit the entire night to win the game.”

Though the Sixers (34-19) are not expected to make a massive move before 3 p.m. Thursday — unlike when they acquired future Hall of Famer James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets for the absent Ben Simmons in the league’s biggest blockbuster deal last year — their roster could be tinkered as part of their quest to become a legitimate championship contender.

Wednesday’s outcome illustrated why that might be beneficial. The matchup against the Celtics (39-16) was a barometer and an opportunity for the Sixers, who had not faced the defending East champions since an opening-night loss. Boston was severely shorthanded Wednesday — missing reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, interior force Robert Williams, and veteran big man Al Horford for the whole game, and All-Star wing Jaylen Brown for the second half after he suffered a facial contusion — but still built double-digit leads in both halves before holding off the Sixers’ late push.

“Whether we had a letdown [because of Boston’s injuries], I don’t ever know the answer to that,” Rivers said. “I just didn’t like how we played tonight overall. I hope there was a letdown in watching us play. I hope that wasn’t our best. I’ll put it that way.”

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Sam Hauser gave the Celtics a 95-85 lead with 8 minutes, 20 seconds remaining, before the Sixers answered with a 10-3 run capped by a Matisse Thybulle three-pointer and a Harden free throw to slice that advantage to 98-95 with 3:43 to play. But Luke Kornet answered with an alley-oop slam, and Derrick White followed with a deep shot to put the Celtics up, 103-97, with less than two minutes to go.

Embiid finished with 28 points and seven rebounds but was less effective following a terrific start, while Harden totaled 26 points and 11 assists on a night the Sixers went 10-of-32 from three-point range. Tatum, the Celtics’ All-Star, flirted with a triple-double despite a poor 5-of-15 shooting output, with 12 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists.

The Sixers, who lost consecutive games for the first time since late December, have four games remaining before the All-Star break: Friday vs. the New York Knicks, Saturday at Brooklyn, Monday vs. the Houston Rockets, and next Wednesday vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“We’ve got to find a way to close out the games before the break,” Harden said. " … Whatever it takes.”

Without Williams and Horford on the floor, Embiid initially got whatever he wanted.

He scored 14 first-quarter points on 6-of-8 shooting. That included a rim-rocking one-handed dunk in transition with 1:49 left in the period, and a three-pointer over the unconventional straight-up “Kornet contest” from several feet away (which prompted Embiid to wave his hand in front of his nose as if he picked up a pungent odor, then chuckled with Kornet).

The MVP contender was far less dominant after that torrid start, going 5-of-13 in the final three quarters, including 1-of-5 in the final frame while trying to combat a heavy dose of double-teams. He was also clearly frustrated in the second quarter, when he drew a technical foul after expressing his displeasure when no foul was called on a tough finish inside.

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“They started crowding the paint, so I really had no lane to drive,” Embiid said. “I thought I made the right plays all game, especially in the third quarter. We just didn’t make shots. … I was just trying to bait them, and it felt like I made the right plays over and over and over. It’s one of those nights when you don’t make shots, and the other team does.”

The Celtics, meanwhile, got a boost from reserve Blake Griffin’s three-point shooting. He buried three long balls in the game’s first four minutes, then another two in the third that helped push Boston’s lead back to 72-64 after the Sixers had briefly evened the score. Kornet finished with eight points and four rebounds.

The Sixers’ defense has sputtered at times during their two-month surge, and Wednesday was no different.

Boston shot 51.9% from the floor, including 19-of-35 from beyond the arc on a slew of uncontested looks set up by dribble penetration and kick-out passes. That overall output occurred even as Tatum and Brown were relatively limited in the first half, combining to score 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

“I could have made some of those threes,” Rivers said. “Maybe not me. I was a poor shooter. But someone in this room could have made those threes. They were pretty much wide open. We gave a lot of ‘dare’ shots tonight, all the way through the game.”

Six Celtics finished in double figures: Tatum, White (19 points), Malcolm Brogdon (19 points), Grant Williams (15 points), Griffin (15 points), and Hauser (14 points). Their bench outscored the Sixers’, 41-21.

Thybulle, one of the Sixers’ perimeter stoppers, played just one first-half minute after picking up two fouls, but re-entered the game with the Sixers trailing by seven in the fourth quarter. He played alongside Embiid, Harden, De’Anthony Melton, and P.J. Tucker down the stretch, which helped the Sixers make it a single-possession game.

“He earned it,” Rivers said of Thybulle’s fourth-quarter minutes.

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