On Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics will play another of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers, in their final road game of the NBA regular season.
Boston (54-24) is still two games behind Milwaukee for the top spot in the conference and the NBA, despite winning two straight. The Celtics would win all four of their meetings with Philadelphia in a row (51-27) if they extend their winning streak on Tuesday.
The Celtics have not played since beating Utah 122-114 on Friday, a night after their flight from Milwaukee was delayed due to a 140-99 defeat of the Bucks. The flight landed six hours preceding the game against the Jazz.
After scoring 40 points against the Bucks, Tatum finished with 39 points and 11 rebounds. He led the Celtics in scoring for the third consecutive game, making five of the team’s 17 3-pointers.
Blake Griffin replaced Al Horford in the starting lineup and led the team with 12 rebounds, six points, and five assists. He also scored six points and had five assists.
On Monday afternoon, the Celtics made the announcement that Jaylen Brown, who is averaging 26.7 points and 6.8 rebounds, will not play because of pain in his back. Because of treatment for a left knee injury, Robert Williams is out.
The 76ers have had mixed results lately, losing three straight games before winning back-to-back games before losing to Milwaukee 117-104 on Sunday.
With 29 points, Philadelphia was led by Tyrese Maxey. Joel Embiid had 28.
After Milwaukee suffered its worst loss of the season against the Celtics, Sixers coach Doc Rivers was dissatisfied with his team’s performance in what could be considered a measuring stick game.
It began with Milwaukee leading by as much as twenty points in the first half. At 77-73 in the third quarter, Philadelphia got within four, but that was the closest the game would get.
The 76ers are aware that must change quickly. The regular season is down to four games.
After the Celtics won the initial two no holds barred gatherings by nine and seven focuses, individually, Brown scored the game-dominating triple with 1.3 seconds left for a 110-107 street triumph for the Celtics on Feb. 25.
In that game, Tatum had a team-high 18 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists.
