76ers

Joel Embiid was happy to get the win over the Celtics on Tuesday, but the 76ers' overall performance wasn't perfect enough.

BOSTON -- Marcus Smart had his fingerprints all over Tuesday night's near comeback by the Celtics in Philadelphia. After the 103-101 Boston defeat, ...

"I would not like to sit, but I'm not going to push it if this neck is giving me some serious problems like it was tonight, to where every time down the court, I'm grabbing it," he said. (Boston would need to win out and have Milwaukee lose its final three games to climb into the No. With Jaylen Brown sitting out the first part of a back-to-back, Smart didn't have much choice but to play. The Celtics got one final chance to tie the game after forcing Joel Embiid into committing an offensive foul, but Jayson Tatum missed a tough turnaround jumper at the buzzer. Smart made a nice no-look pass to Al Horford, who fed Derrick White for a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game with two seconds left. "My lower left arm is going numb here and there, so just trying to play through it and be out there for my team.

Both teams play again today. The Red Sox host the final game of a three-game series against Pittsburgh this afternoon at 1:35 p.m., and the Celtics face the ...

[128-108](https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/195904050BOS.html?__hstc=205977932.94ddd916a93829eb7332b03ebdc9c767.1654020865042.1680522633339.1680695337992.111&__hssc=205977932.5.1680695337992&__hsfp=862196976) in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Can you name the other? Smart said his status for the second game of the back-to-back remains questionable. But if it starts to feel better, I’m definitely playing tomorrow.” Bob Cousy paced Boston with a triple-double: 21 points, 15 assists, and 11 rebounds. “I would not like to sit, but I’m not going to push it if this neck is giving me some serious problems like it was tonight to where every time down the court, I’m grabbing it,” Smart explained. “My lower left arm is going numb here and there, so just trying to play through it and be out there for my team. But it definitely hurts, so we’ll figure out what’s going on.” [miraculous move](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/04/04/sports/watch-celtics-nearly-pull-off-last-second-comeback-against-sixers/) to tie the game in the final seconds. [incredible comeback](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/04/04/sports/watch-celtics-nearly-pull-off-last-second-comeback-against-sixers/). Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com [pinched nerve in his neck](https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/1643448492591927296).

Boston was without two key rotation players and it took a dominant performance before they fell at the buzzer.

Against both the Bucks and the Jazz, Tatum did a good job of reading the defense to set up his teammates. It’s the first of a two-game mini-series too. But this is a nice simulation of the playoffs, by seeing the same team twice in three days. On a team with the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, it’s remarkable that Derrick White has been the Celtics best defensive guard, and probably the best overall defensive player for Boston. The first time was Derrick White hitting a three when Grant Williams screened off his man to get him open directly on the inbounds pass. The other one came a couple of minutes later. It seems like the team has found a rhythm with Derrick White staying in the starting lineup and Rob Williams coming off the bench. It ended with Tobias Harris and Harden locked up in the corner: The first involved Grant Williams picking up James Harden on a switch. At the end of the day, it feels like the Celtics strategy against Embiid remains to throw different looks at him and varying their coverages. It was just a shorthanded loss in a great game against the likely NBA MVP. The single best individual defense of the night on Embiid came from Blake Griffin.

"We did so many things wrong," 76ers coach Doc Rivers said in summarizing his team's win over the rival Celtics on Tuesday night, "but what we did right was ...

"You got to be ready for every scenario. I think you know, if we could correct a lot of the mistakes that we made, we got a pretty good chance." You know, like I said, we found ways to basically lose that game, but a win is a win -- especially going into the playoffs. 2 seed, we might see them in the second round, if we make it there. Tonight, for me, was kind of disappointing because we found so many ways to lose the game, and that's on all of us. ... I could've been better, and we could've been better as a team. "But we got bigger goals." "So if you got any ideas, I think every other NBA team would like to know." Ultimately, though, it didn't matter, thanks to an iconic performance from Embiid. It looks like he's going to lead the league in scoring this year. He led the league in scoring last year. "He's been in contention for it the last few years.