What to KnowCeltics insider Chris Forsberg shared more analysis and player reaction in a postgame edition of the Celtics Talk Podcast.The Celtics (3-3) have won three straight games. Jaylen Brown led the C’s with 32 points on 68.4 percent shooting (13-for-19).Anfernee Simons (19), Derrick White (15) and Payton Pritchard (15) also scored in double figures.The Celtics are 1-0 in NBA Cup play while the Sixers are 0-1.
The Celtics played stretches of really good basketball in their 109-108 victory against the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on Friday night.
Fortunately, those stretches were enough.
Boston, which held a 24-point lead with three minutes left in the first half, saw its advantage completely disappear nine minutes later. The C’s then regained momentum and held an 11-point lead with less than five minutes remaining. However, that also was cut to one point with 21 seconds left. The 76ers, who never led, had an opportunity to win the game on the final play after Josh Minott missed two free throws that would’ve given the C’s a three-point edge. Even that didn’t prove fatal.
In the end, the contributions of Jaylen Brown, who scored a game-high 32 points on 68.4 percent (13-for-19) shooting from the field, as well as Payton Pritchard, Anfernee Simons and Hugo González, proved to be enough to propel the Celtics in their NBA Cup opener.
Check out our Celtics-76ers recap for everything you need to know from Friday’s contest: