Paul Pierce finishes with 18 points and seven rebounds; Rajon Rondo adds 16 and 13 assists. The C's also get 14 points from Kevin Garnett and 13 from Ray Allen. Just a very nice team effort all around.
Evan Turner comes off the bench to drop 21 in a losing effort for Philly.
Now the Celtics hit the road. They've got a highly anticipated showdown with the East-leading Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.
Fourth quarter, 3:15, Celtics 92-78: Paul Pierce and Ray Allen just connected on 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. That should just about do it, methinks.
The Celtics have played a masterful second half, outscoring the Sixers 38-28. This is a very nice win for them, a convincing performance against a very likely first-round playoff opponent.
They'll probably be trying to replicate this effort next week.
Fourth quarter, 5:44, Celtics 87-72: Don't look now, but Delonte West is actually taking shots, and he's hitting them, too. D-West now has six points on 3-of-4 shooting.
It's not just Ray Allen who hasn't gotten many touches lately. It's his backup, too. Both Ray and Delonte have been efficient when they've gotten looks, but sadly those looks haven't come often enough.
In any event, the Celtics are up 15 with just over five minutes to play. This one's just about over.
Fourth quarter, 8:26, Celtics 81-67: Another solid start to a quarter defensively for the C's. Philly has just two points in the first three-plus minutes of the fourth.
Doc Rivers has managed to get a balanced defensive effort out of everyone tonight — starters, reserves, and the in-between-type units that don't have a lot of experience together. Everyone in green is getting the job done.
Fourth quarter, 9:01, Celtics 79-67: Thaddeus Young steals the ball from Ray Allen, but Delonte West chases Young down in transition and steals the ball right back.
The C's are making all the hustle plays now. They want to keep this lead.
They let it slip away in the fourth quarter last time against these Sixers, and they're determined not to let that happen again.
End of third quarter, Celtics 75-65: Rajon Rondo puts the cherry on top of a very solid third quarter, running the floor in three seconds for a floater at the buzzer. Money in the bank. The C's push their lead from eight to 10 at the end of the third quarter.
Rondo now has 14 points and 11 assists, and the Celtics are 12 minutes away from a very nice win over a potential first-round playoff opponent.
Third quarter, 2:01, Celtics 70-60: That was a mighty quick 6-0 scoring burst from the Celtics. Delonte West, Paul Pierce and Nenad Krstic each get in on the act, and the lead is back to double digits.
Krstic has quietly been really impressive in his first game back from injury. He's got eight points in 11 minutes.
Third quarter, 3:59, Celtics 64-60: Paul Pierce misses back-to-back layups, the Celtics let up in their defensive effort, and the Sixers go on a 10-1 run to sneak back into the ballgame.
Now it's Doc Rivers' turn to call a timeout. He's got to get his guys refocused.
Third quarter, 5:53, Celtics 63-54: The Celtics open the third quarter on a 9-0 run; the Sixers open 0-for-9. They eventually decide they've had enough. Elton Brand knocks down a short jumper to break the silence, and then Andre Iguodala throws down a thunderous dunk for a three-point play.
After all that, the Sixers are still within single digits.
Third quarter, 8:11, Celtics 63-50: Spencer Hawes just put up an airball from about two feet away. He's now 1-for-10 for the game; the Sixers are 0-for-8 since halftime.
Unsurprisingly, Doug Collins yanks Hawes out of the game right away.
The Sixers are looking pretty pathetic right now.
Third quarter, 9:40, Celtics 61-50: Make it a 7-0 run for the C's to open the quarter, as Kevin Garnett knocks down a mid-range jumper off a Paul Pierce assist.
Doug Collins has called for an early timeout. He's got to make some adjustments now before this gets out of control. His team has opened the second half shooting 0-for-6 from the field.
Third quarter, 10:15, Celtics 59-50: The C's open the third quarter on a 5-0 run, capped off by a couple of Ray Allen free throws. It's their defense that's been the story so far — they're closing out on shooters, getting rebounds and ensuring stops.
If they keep this up, they're in good shape.
Halftime, Celtics 54-50: The other end of the floor may be unclear, but offensively, the Celtics are in postseason form. They shoot 56.4 percent in the first half to take a four-point halftime lead over the Sixers.
Rajon Rondo leads the way with 12 points and nine assists, while Paul Pierce adds 10 with four rebounds. The C's starting five is a combined 17-for-27 from the field so far. They're pretty hard to beat with efficiency like that.
Jrue Holiday and Jodie Meeks have 11 points and 10 respectively for Philly. Their guard play has been really solid.
If the C's clamp down defensively in the second half, you have to like their chances in this one.
Second quarter, 2:53, Celtics 45-43: Rajon Rondo misses a 3 in the waning seconds of the shot clock, but Kevin Garnett grabs the offensive rebound and finds Rondo dashing into the paint for a layup. Rondo finishes. Heads-up play.
Rondo's now got 12 points and seven assists. He's showing a lot of aggression in this first half.
Second quarter, 5:49, Sixers 38-35: Paul Pierce just made a big defensive play, emphatically rejecting a layup attempt from Andres Nocioni. But then Elton Brand recovered the basketball, the Sixers got a second chance, and Thaddeus Young caught Glen Davis sleeping for an easy bucket in the paint.
That's been the story of the second quarter. They've shown flashes of brilliance, but they need more second, third and fourth efforts to close out possessions.
The Celtics are shooting better and arguably executing better in this game, but the Sixers are giving the far greater effort. That's why they've got the lead.
Second quarter, 8:32, Sixers 32-31: Paul Pierce has surprisingly been almost a non-factor in this game. He's basically only touched the ball once — when he knocked down a wing 3 early in the second quarter.
Pierce spent a couple of minutes to start the quarter as the only starter out there next to four reserves. It's strange that he didn't show a little more initiative in that situation, creating his offense to get the Celtics going.
Oh well. The captain's offense will come in due time. Let's all remain patient.
Second quarter, 9:11, Celtics 31-30: The old Nenad Krstic is back, and that's both good and bad. On one hand, Krstic is showing aggression on offense inside, getting into the paint for both points and boards. On the other, he slacks off a bit on defense.
Krstic just played the softest possession of the century against Elton Brand — Brand bumped into him in the paint, Krstic backed off about five steps, and Brand hit a short jumper easily.
The C's need to get more consistent effort out of Krstic on the defensive end.
End of first quarter, Sixers 26-24: In case anyone was wondering: No, Rajon Rondo isn't still slumping. The little man plays the entire first quarter and drops eight points, five assists and a rebound.
The Celtics' defense leaves a little to be desired, though, as guards Jrue Holiday and Jodie Meeks have combined for 18 points so far on 7-of-10 shooting. The C's perimeter D has been far from impenetrable, to say the least.
The C's will trot out Rondo and the four backups to start the second quarter. Let's see if this unit can work together and play some D.
First quarter, 2:41, Sixers 24-22: Nenad Krstic is back on the floor, and he looks healthy as can be. The Serbian 7-footer has already knocked down a pair of smooth jumpers to keep the Celtics in the ballgame.
We're getting our first look at Doc Rivers' new backup front line: Krstic and Glen Davis. Those two haven't played a lot of minutes together, but they're off to a nice start now.
First quarter, 4:29, Sixers 20-16: Jrue Holiday is killing it right now. The Sixers' little guy has 11 points right now; he's 4-for-4 from the field, 1-for-1 from 3 and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. He's scoring in every way imaginable.
This illustrates why the Sixers might be a really tough out for Boston in the first round of the playoffs — they're athletic, they're quick and they make things happen. Holiday is a great example of that.
It's going to take a lot of effort for the C's to pull this game out. No coasting allowed tonight.
First quarter, 6:18, 12-12: That was a thing of beauty. Ray Allen just corraled a defensive rebound, heaved a long outlet pass to Rajon Rondo, then dashed from coast to coast and got the ball back under the basket. Rather than finish at the rim, he dishes to Jermaine O'Neal for a dunk.
That's teamwork.
The C's are rolling. Both teams are playing extraordinarily well right now, though, so we're still looking at a tie ballgame.
First quarter, 8:37, Celtics 8-7: Kevin Garnett has come out firing, and it's refreshing to see. The Big Ticket has taken five shots in less than four minutes. So much for KG being unselfish to a fault.
He's got six of the Celtics' eight points, and they've got an early lead. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have hardly even touched the ball yet.
First quarter, 10:46, Sixers 2-0: Both sides trade stops to open, and then Jrue Holiday connects on a 15-footer to put the Sixers on the board. It's 2-0 early.
With Lou Williams out, Holiday will have to step up and give the Sixers a little extra scoring spark at the point guard spot. So far, he appears up to the challenge.
7 p.m.: Slow night in the TD Garden locker rooms — not much news to report. The biggest story of the evening so far is that Glen Davis walked in with both of his hands heavily taped up; when asked why, however, he said he jammed a finger picking his nose.
So, yeah. Sounds like he's fine.
Doc Rivers says Big Baby must have been jealous that Shaquille O'Neal was getting all the media attention. Not a bad theory, Doc.
5:45 p.m.: Welcome to the TD Garden, where both Nenad Krstic and Troy Murphy are expected to return for the Celtics on Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The C's could sure use the extra depth, too. With Shaquille O'Neal out and Jermaine O'Neal still playing limited minutes, every healthy body means a lot to them.
12 p.m.: The Celtics finish their season with six games against Eastern Conference rivals, including four with a chance to knock them out of the playoffs this spring. All of them will be looking to send a message now before the regular season comes to a close.
The drama is getting really good, really fast, but the Celtics are blocking it out.
"You know me by now," Doc Rivers said. "All that 'statement' crap — 'they beat us and they made a statement' — do you think that matters in Game 1? Doesn't matter to us."
The C's may not believe in statement-making, but at the same time, they might encounter a few teams over the next week and a half who do. Among them are the Bulls, Heat and Knicks.
But first, it's the Philadelphia 76ers, who come to town on Tuesday night for their fourth and final meeting of the season.
The Celtics are currently sitting third in the Eastern Conference, half a game behind the Miami Heat for second; the Sixers are in sixth, 1 1/2 games up on the seventh-place Knicks. If the season ended today, Tuesday's game would be a first-round playoff preview.
The Celtics and Sixers had three very competitive games in their first three meetings — Boston won the first two, but Philly claimed the third, an 89-86 win on March 11 in which the C's offense sputtered in the fourth quarter.
"I'm mad because they beat us last time," Ray Allen said. "That's got to be fresh in everybody's minds. Now we're home, and we've got to right the ship."
The C's won't have Shaquille O'Neal, but they are likely to get a pair of big men back into their rotation, in Nenad Krstic and Troy Murphy. Jermaine O'Neal is likely to start while the other two come off the bench.
The playoffs are just around the corner, and Tuesday night might be a glimpse of what's to come. The C's and Sixers tip off at 7:30 p.m.
