Joel Embiid had 38 points and 11 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers went on a 27-10 run in the third quarter to beat the Boston Celtics 122-110.
The Celtics led 69-63 with 7:19 left in the third quarter. Embiid’s 3 free throws put the 76ers ahead for good with 5:25 left in the quarter. He scored 6 points during the run, and they led 90-79 with 54 seconds left in the quarter and by as many as 15 in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics got within 103-100 on Jaylen Brown’s 3-pointer with 4:44 to play, but Ben Simmons answered with a three-point play, and the Celtics got no closer.
Tobias Harris had 23 points and 8 rebounds on 10 for 12 shooting.
For the Celtics, Brown had 42 points and 9 rebounds, and Marcus Smart added 20 points, 7 assists and 3 steals. Kemba Walker had 19 points (12 in the paint) and 3 steals but went 1 for 7 from 3.
The 76ers shot 55.6% from the field and 42.9% from 3 to the Celtics’ 45.6% and 40.0%. The 76ers’ starters outscored the Celtics 54-40 in 17 minutes together.