Celtics 
Jayson Tatum. Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
February 3, 2025 | 8:09 AM
The Celtics did not look good in the first half of their eventual win over the Sixers on Sunday.
Tyrese Maxey, who spoiled Boston’s Christmas Day outing last month, was in the process of torching them again. He hit four of his first five 3-point attempts, and his confidence was overflowing as Philadelphia jumped out to a 17-point halftime lead.
The Celtics’ defense looked porous, even with Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Paul George in street clothes. The listlessness on defensive rotations and closeouts that plagued Boston during select moments throughout the season had returned.
Other than Kristaps Porzingis hitting the occasional jumper from way beyond the 3-point line, the Celtics did not have much going offensively.
All the ingredients for an ugly loss to an 11th place team were there. But, somehow, the Celtics dug their way out of the deficit.
“We just had to be honest with ourselves at halftime,” Jayson Tatum said. “They had 20 points in transition. We just – our competitive spirit wasn’t where it needed to be, and Joe (Mazzulla) was like ‘yo if you’re tired, then just tell me, I’ll sit you guys down and let the Stay Ready group play. We just had a choice to make.”
The Celtics chose to turn it on in the second-half, but the process did not work immediately. Philadelphia led by as much as 26 points in the third quarter.
“It was a long third quarter,” Tatum said. “It didn’t go our way right away and we just had to keep fighting, but it brought the best out of us. That’s how we’re supposed to play. It took a little bit from everybody. Our competitive joy was there on both ends and it was just fun to be a part of.”
Ex-Celtic Guerschon Yabusele beat on his chest after dunking on Derrick White, a visual example of how confident the Sixers were in their big lead. It felt, in that moment, that it simply wasn’t the Celtics’ night, White said.
“Just kind of frustrated,” White said. “Trying to get back into the game that’s like a 5-point swing. Tried to tell our guys to stick together, stick with it and found a way to get a win.”
The Celtics clamped down on Philadelphia late, allowing just 16 points in the third quarter. Maxey was limited to two points in the quarter, both of which came on free-throws.
Meanwhile, Tatum, White, and Sam Hauser caught fire from 3-point range, shooting a combined 7-for-8 from three in the final frame. The looks the Celtics were getting weren’t much different from the ones in the first-half, Mazzulla said while shaking his head.
“The math evened out, but you’ve got to play hard, math and effort,” Mazzulla said. “We played hard in the second half and the math caught up, which gave us a chance and then we executed, made some big-time plays on both ends.”
Jaylen Brown said the Celtics were able to adjust their mindset, which led to the second-half comeback.
“It’s the NBA,” Brown said. “On any given night, there’s enough talent where teams can play well. But, we’re the better team. We just had to stick with it. They were trying to mix it up. Give credit to Nick Nurse, he had his guys prepared and they threw some different coverages at us to try to slow us down.”
“But, once we just started playing basketball and forgetting about what coverage they’re in, forget about the referees, just come out and play, the game will take care of itself.
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