The C's fall behind early and fail to battle all the way back. Once again, it's a matter of inferior effort against a very beatable team.
Andre Iguodala, the NBA's newest triple-double machine, brushes with one tonight. He finishes with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Two new guys from Oklahoma City counter with big nights for the Celtics — a double-double from Nenad Krstic with 16 points and 15 boards, and a game high in scoring for Jeff Green with 18.
The C's return home to practice Saturday before taking on the Milwaukee Bucks at the TD Garden on Sunday night.
Fourth quarter, 12.5 seconds, Sixers 89-84: Andre Iguodala gets a driving layup to push the lead back to five.
That should be just about game over.
Fourth quarter, 30.9 seconds, Sixers 87-84: Rajon Rondo makes a nice entry pass to Kevin Garnett, and KG gets pummelled at the basket by Elton Brand.
KG makes two huge clutch free throws.
The Celtics are still alive. But they desperately need a stop now.
Fourth quarter, 1:48, Sixers 87-82: Paul Pierce is trying to carry the offense himself. It isn't working.
The C's are running out of answers. Someone needs to step up and hit a couple big shots.
Fourth quarter, 2:51, Sixers 87-82: Paul Pierce heaves up an alley-oop for Kevin Garnett, and KG drops it. That's another turnover.
The Celtics' offense is really running out of gas down the stretch.
Fourth quarter, 5:04, Sixers 83-81: The Sixers' pesky little guards keep on scoring. Lou Williams and Jrue Holiday give them a nice little 1-2 punch.
A second ago, the Celtics were up two. Now the Sixers are.
Fourth quarter, 6:27, Celtics 81-79: Ray Allen has his first basket of the night, and it's a big one. He drains a 3 to put the Celtics back in front.
They need him to keep it up. He can be a difference-maker here.
Fourth quarter, 8:18, Celtics 76-75: Jeff Green nails the mid-range jumper. He's now got 18 points off the bench, a game high.
The Celtics have come all the way back, and their three best players are watching from the bench. This has been a bizarre night.
Fourth quarter, 10:23, Sixers 75-72: Look at Sasha Pavlovic! The new kid drives the lane with a finger-rolling floater for two. The Celtics are still nipping at the Sixers' heels.
A litle bit of bench scoring is just what the C's need to stay afloat. KG, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo are all on the bench recharging for crunch time. Until then, this bench unit just needs to stay within striking distance.
End of third quarter, Sixers 72-68: Somehow, despite lackluster effort on D and mediocre offense from their Big Three, the Celtics are alive and well with 12 minutes to play in Philadelphia.
A big effort from Jeff Green off the bench, along with a couple nice shots from Rondo, have brought the C's back to within two possessions. Now they'll look to make it all the way back.
It would be nice if Ray Allen could turn it on. The C's shooting guard still has zero points.
Third quarter, 3:18, Sixers 66-64: Rajon Rondo knocks down a jummper when you least expect it. That caps off an 11-3 Boston run. Somehow, the Celtics are back.
Now it's Doug Collins' turn to frustratedly call timeout.
Can the Sixers hold off the surging C's?
Third quarter, 4:32, Sixers 65-60: The Celtics go on a 7-2 run to cut the lead, including a nice corner 3 from Jeff Green. But KG then slips and leaves Spencer Hawes wide open for a dunk, forcing Paul Pierce to hack him at the rim.
KG just hasn't been himself, on either end of the floor. He sets the tone for this entire Celtic team, especially defensively. When he slacks off, everyone suffers.
Third quarter, 6:36, Sixers 63-53: Andre Iguodala just shook the whole building with a two-handed slam. The Sixers are up by double digits.
It's embarrassing how many times the Celtics have fallen asleep on defense in this game. This effort looks even worse than Wednesday's against the Clippers.
Third quarter, 8:51, Sixers 58-49: Make it a 9-2 run for the Sixers. Jrue Holiday drives to the hole for a layup.
Doc Rivers has seen enough. He needs a timeout.
It might be time for him to raise his voice with these guys. Whatever he's been saying, they haven't been listening.
Third quarter, 9:46, Sixers 56-49: Jodie Meeks nails a corner 3, pushing the Philly lead back to seven. Give the Sixers credit for their superb ball movement, but c'mon now. A less lazy Celtics team would have been quicker with the rotations, closing out on those jumpers.
That was a really quick 7-2 Philly run. The Celtics really aren't playing like they want this one.
Third quarter, 11:48, Sixers 49-47: Paul Pierce knocks down a smooth fadeaway jumper on the first possession of the second half. For the first time in a while, the C's are back to within two.
They haven't gone to Pierce enough so far tonight. Maybe that changes in the third quarter.
Halftime, Sixers 49-45: Who'd have thunk it? Celtics-Sixers has turned into a one-on-one duel between two unheralded centers, Nenad Krstic and Spencer Hawes.
Krstic finishes the first half in Philly with an absurd stat line, 14 points and eight rebounds in 15 minutes of play. Hawes counters with 11 points, three boards and two assists, including a deep 3.
This has been a rather sloppy game on both sides. Neither side has looked particularly strong defensively. If the C's can force the Sixers to settle for more jumpers in the second half, that'll be a huge breakthrough.
Second quarter, 2:49, Sixers 41-39: Nenad Krstic just keeps puling up numbers. He gets another rebound, his ninth, and kicks it to Rajon Rondo, who runs a fast break for a Paul Pierce bucket.
That's a 7-0 Boston run.
Krstic has 10 points and nine boards.
Second quarter, 4:03, Sixers 41-34: Spencer Hawes gets greedy. On one fluky possession, the burly big man knocks down a 3; on the next one, he immediately chucks another one. Clang.
Hawes now has 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. But he can't shoot the lights out from downtown. He's Spencer Hawes, not Ray Allen.
Second quarter, 6:15, Sixers 38-32: Paul Pierce gets to the basket and draws a foul from Andre Iguodala. He gets two shots and nails them both.
Pierce has four points on only two shot attempts. An efficient start for him, but that's not enough. The C's have to make more of an effort to get him involved in this second quarter.
Second quarter, 8:23, Sixers 33-28: Good news, Celtics fans — Troy Murphy has made his first field goal in a green uniform since his days at Notre Dame.
Murphy has his first bucket as a Celtic, a drive to the basket for a dunk off a Ray Allen assist. He's now 1-for-1 tonight, and 1-for-11 with the C's overall.
Maybe Murphy turns the corner, starting right now.
Second quarter, 10:04, Sixers 29-26: The Celtics' second unit is holding its own so far. Ray Allen is on the floor with four newbies by his side — Jeff Green, Troy Murphy, Sasha Pavlovic and Carlos Arroyo.
Doc is not afraid to give the newcomers plenty of reps. They need this experience together if they want to be ready to contribute come playoff time.
End of first quarter, Sixers 25-22: We've got 12 minutes in the books, and right now the Sixers' bigs look bigger than ever.
Spencer Hawes has eight points, Elton Brand has seven and Thaddeus Young chips in two off the bench. The Celtics' defense has more holes than Swiss cheese.
Nenad Krstic leads the C's with nine points and six boards. But his defense is what really matters.
First quarter, 2:47, Sixers 18-14: This hasn't been the most beautiful game, execution-wise. Neither side can defend a pick-and-roll to save their lives, which has resulted in a ton of easy points down low for the big men.
Eight points and six rebounds now for Nenad Krstic. Seven and four, plus a block and a steal, for Elton Brand. But it doesn't even look like either guy is playing all that well. Dunking and occasionally cherry-picking boards isn't too impressive.
The C's are still looking to turn it on and start playing team basketball.
Jeff Green and Sasha Pavlovic are the first two guys off the bench for Doc Rivers. Let's see what they can do.
First quarter, 5:33, Sixers 9-8: The Sixers are killing it inside. Spencer Hawes has four points; Elton Brand has five, plus three rebounds.
If the Celtics can kick it up a notch defensively, they can force the Sixers to settle for a few jumpers. Right now, they're letting them have whatever they want.
First quarter, 6:44, Sixers 9-8: It's really not Krstic's night — the big man misses a dunk, falls down, and is nowhere to be seen as Elton Brand cruises to the hoop for an easy bucket.
Krstic has four points and six rebounds, a monster stat line for less than six minutes. But he's making a lot of mistakes as well.
First quarter, 8:11, 6-6: Spencer Hawes and Elton Brand have both gotten into the lane already for easy, easy looks inside.
The Celtics are really lacking some toughness in the paint. Nenad Krstic has been tremendous for them offensively, but he seems to be taking some possessions off on D.
Where art thou, Kendrick Perkins?
First quarter, 10:30, Sixers 2-0: After the two sides trade multiple stops to open the ballgame, the Sixers finally break through with a mid-range jumper from Jrue Holiday.
Both sides are looking strong defensively so far. No one's getting any easy looks.
7 p.m.: The Celtics' Big Three are currently 7-0 together in Philadelphia. Is tonight the night they make it eight straight?
They've had a couple of close calls this season. They can't take anything for granted this time.
Tipoff coming up in just a moment.
6 p.m.: The Sixers have already gotten a couple of looks this season at the East-leading Celtics, who have twice beaten them this season by four points or less. But this will be their first brush-up with the new-look C's, post-trade deadline.
How will the Sixers match up with a potent C's attack that includes Nenad Krstic, Jeff Green, Carlos Arroyo and more? There are plenty of fresh new faces to look out for now. It's a whole new ballgame in the City of Brotherly Love.
11 a.m.: The Celtics won't be carrying a winning streak into the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Friday night, but they're still atop the Eastern Conference, fighting to maintain a tight grip on their No. 1 playoff seed.
The C's lost a tough one at home on Wednesday night 108-103, as a late comeback effort fell short against the visiting L.A. Clippers. The Celtics fell behind by 23, fought almost all the way back, and then couldn't finish the deal. Their five-game winning streak is now gone.
They'll look to reestablish their winning ways on Friday night, as they travel to Philly to take on the Sixers. In addition to starting a fresh new winning streak, they'll look to create some separation from Chicago in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They're currently only a game and a half up, and the Bulls have a showdown with the Hawks on Friday night.
The Celtics remain weakened by injuries, as Shaquille O'Neal, Glen Davis and Delonte West are unable to return just yet. Doc Rivers will have plenty of time Friday to experiment with his new reserves — especially Carlos Arroyo and Sasha Pavlovic, who are currently the two best guards remaining on his bench.
The Sixers, in contrast, have been remarkably healthy of late, and they're shooting up the Eastern Conference ranks. They've currently got a stranglehold on at least the No. 7 spot in the postseason.
The C's and Sixers tip things off at 7 p.m.
