Sixers hold off Celtics late to avoid season sweep

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By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly Staff 

The Philadelphia 76ers were looking for their first victory against their Atlantic Division rival Boston Celtics this season. Their hard work all game long paid off, as the team came away with the big victory, by a score of 105-99.

A strong comeback from the Sixers late in the third quarter pushed the momentum to Philly early in the fourth quarter to allow the team to come away with a win against a team they lost eleven straight games to.

What seemed like the Celtics would just hold on long enough to do what they needed to do to win, the Sixers just played a stronger second half.

The Sixers trailed by five points in the closing seconds of the third quarter, but a Shawn Long layup, and a Sergio Rodriguez steal and jumper brought them within three points of the Celtics going into the final period of regulation.

The Celtics tried to garner the momentum back in the fourth, but the Sixers got stellar play from Dario Šarić and a couple clutch threes from Nik Stauskas to make sure they didn't tamper with the win.

Šarić was without a doubt the undisputed leader for the Sixers on Sunday, the power forward had 23 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Robert Covington had 16 points, eight rebounds, and two steals. Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot had 13 points, including three-of-eight from downtown. TLC also had three boards on the day.

Richaun Holmes played a lights-out game for the Sixers off the bench with eight points, seven rebounds, a career-high five assists, two steals, and four blocks. Holmes has six, three block games on the season, tied with Jahlil Okafor for second among Sixers. Joel Embiid has 12-three block games for the team this season.

Al Horford paced the Celtics with a game-high 27 points. Horford also had eight rebounds, six assists, a steal, and two blocks. Jae Crowder had 15 points, seven boards, four assists, and a steal for the team.

Without a doubt, the Celtics missed the services of injured PG Isaiah Thomas, who in the previous three contests vs. the Sixers, averaged over 30 PPG for the team.

The Sixers shot 47.1% (41-87) from the field including 36.4% from 3PT (12-33). The Celtics struggled shooting the ball from the field with only 40% (34-85). They also trailed the Sixers in 3PT% with 20.7% (6-29) of their shots falling from beyond the arc.

The win for the Sixers is their first win vs. the Celtics since the 2014 season, losing eleven of the previous matchups against the team in green.

The Sixers were able to hold on for the victory despite injuries to Jahlil Okafor, who left the game early on with a sore knee, and Justin Anderson, who did not play from the get go.

With the victory, the Sixers go on their first two-game winning streak since before the All-Star break, and leave the Wells Fargo Center with that streak looking to extend it on the upcoming five-game road trip.

The Sixers take on the Orlando Magic tomorrow night at 7 p.m. ET.

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