The Boston Celtics (24-21) defeated the Philadelphia 76ers (6-39) 112-92 on Sunday night.
Boston was favored by a significant margin coming into this game and they showed why here. They really dominated the second and third quarters, as they outscored the Sixers by 10 in each. The assist-to-turnover ratios were the huge difference in this game, as the Celtics outassisted the Sixers 29 to 17 and drew 23 Philly turnovers. Whenever you commit six more turnovers than assists, that's an almost guaranteed loss.
Boston has been playing much better recently, as this was their fifth win in their last seven games. It was once again a team effort, as Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder tied the team-lead with 20 points scored. Marcus Smart came off the bench and gave the team a nice spark as well, as he scored a6 points and recorded four steals in the win. Jared Sullinger flirted with a triple-double too, as he tallied eight points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the victory. Up next for the Celtics is the Washington Wizards, as they play Monday in the second portion of a back-to-back set.
The Sixers have had very few of these types of games since the acquisition of Ish Smith, but this was simply an ugly loss. Committing 23 turnovers is a disastrous number and the game was well out of hand early in the fourth quarter. Robert Covington was the lone bright spot in the defeat, as he his six three's en route to a 25-point, eight-rebound performance. No other player on the roster scored more than 12 points or grabbed double-digit rebounds. That's a recipe for disaster and it;s even worse considering no one had more than four assists either. Philadelphia will look to play better on Tuesday against the struggling Phoenix Suns.
