BOSTON ? On their third try this season, newly-minted All-Star Joel Embiid and his Philadelphia 76ers finally secured a hard-earned 89-80 win over the Boston Celtics Thursday night at the TD Garden.
With Kyrie Irving out due to left shoulder soreness, the 76ers took advantage as Embiid scored 26 points on 10-of-19 field goal shooting and pulled down 16 rebounds. Dario Saric and TJ McConnell were the other Philly players finishing in double digits with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Rookie Ben Simmons added 8 markers and 7 rebounds.
Celtic Jayson Tatum shot a three-pointer with 2:01 left in the final quarter to make it 86-79, but it was the closest they could get as Philadelphia stepped up their defense to secure their 21st victory of the season.
Boston was paced by Al Horford and Marcus Morris with 14 points apiece, Marcus Smart chipped in 13 while Jaylen Brown added 12 for the Celtics which fell to 34-12 but still leads the Eastern Conference.
Overall, the 76ers shot 34-of-73 from the field for a 46.6% clip while Boston had 30-of-74 for 40.5% conversion.
Boston will face the Orlando Magic this Sunday, hoping to end its two-game losing skid.
Photo: Celtics rookie Jason Tatum lays in a twinner in Boston's 89-80 loss to the Sixers.
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