Celtics at 76ers
The Boston Celtics expect to play at least one more game without All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas as they try to stay in the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference and are hoping for a similar result after winning without their leader on Friday. The Philadelphia 76ers, who host the Celtics on Sunday, won't make it easy with the way they've been playing of late.
Thomas' knee swelled up after a hard fall in a win over Minnesota on Wednesday and the team decided to leave him home for the two-game road trip through Brooklyn and Philadelphia. The offense was not the same without Thomas' 29.2 points on Friday but Boston picked it up on the defensive end and held the Nets to 36.1 percent shooting while pulling out a 98-95 win - its third straight. The 76ers are out of the postseason race but are playing as hard as any team right now and played spoiler on Friday by thrashing the playoff-hopeful Dallas Mavericks 116-74 at home as seven players scored in double figures. "We have been on the other side of these types of things," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown told reporters after the win. "It is rare for us to be looking at a game like this. I think all of our guys played well."
TV: 1 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE CELTICS (44-25): Boston is trying to track down the Cavaliers for the top spot in the East while holding off the Wizards for No. 2 and needs to avoid overlooking the 76ers with a home game against Washington looming for the start of a six-game homestand on Monday. The Celtics leaned on Jae Crowder for extra offense with Thomas out on Friday and were rewarded with 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 12 rebounds in the win. Crowder failed to score in double figures in any of the previous five games and shot 24.4 percent from the field in that span.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (25-43): Philadelphia won two of its last three games and gave the NBA-best Golden State Warriors a stiff challenge in a 106-104 road loss on Tuesday, but the best performance came on Friday. The 76ers outscored the Mavericks by 44 points over the final three quarters and dominated on both ends, holding Dallas to 34.5 percent from the field and building up a 29-5 edge in fast break points. "We had nine guys with two assists or more and ended with 32 assists," Brown told reporters. "I thought we passed the ball well and everything stemmed from three solid defensive periods to set the stage."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Celtics PG Marcus Smart started in place of Thomas on Friday and scored 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting.
2. Philadelphia SG Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot is averaging 13.3 points on 15-of-26 shooting over the last three games.
3. Boston took the first three meetings this season by an average of 4.3 points.