Jayson Tatum, Celtics Hailed by Twitter for 'Impressive' Win vs. Joel Embiid, 76ers

Erin WalshFebruary 9, 2023

BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 8: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics dribbles the ball during the game against the Philadelphia 76ers on February 8, 2023 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

The Boston Celtics were without four starters Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden, but they still came out with a 106-99 win to improve to 39-16 on the season.

Al Horford, Robert Williams III and Marcus Smart were all ruled out before Wednesday's contest, and Jaylen Brown exited the game in the first half with a facial injury, leaving Boston without four starters for the second half.

Still, the C's made easy work of the Sixers thanks to a full team effort highlighted by 19-point outings from Malcolm Brogdon and Derrick White. Blake Griffin and Grant Williams each had 15 points, while Tatum had 12 points and Sam Hauser finished with 14 points.

Boston was also an impressive 19-of-35 from deep, compared to Philadelphia's 10-of-31 from beyond the arc.

After the win, NBA Twitter hailed the Celtics for a key win over the 76ers:

Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps
A Jayson Tatum jumper – on what has been a rough night for him – should just about end this one for Boston, which leads 105-97 with 35.9 to go. Really, really impressive win for the Celtics with four starters sitting out.

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Cameron Tabatabaie @CTabatabaie
It's been an epic team effort from the Celtics tonight, but their MVP just went and manufactured a basket in the clutch

Taylor Snow @taylorcsnow
One of the most impressive team wins of the season for the Celtics. Down four starters, including both bigs, beating the 76ers and the most dominant big in the league. And their top 5 scorers didn't even include Tatum. Wow.

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Just a great, gutty win for the Celtics. Down four starters for most of the game and they got it done.

Dart_Adams @Dart_Adams
No Marcus Smart. No Time Lord. No Al Horford. No Jaylen Brown. No problem. Boston Celtics basketball is TEAM BASKETBALL. Like Bill Russell said, the most important statistic is getting the win.

Souichi Terada | 寺田惣一 @SouichiTerada
Season-low 12 points for Jayson Tatum tonight. Celtics still won and credit goes to their bench and depth players. Big win over a Sixers team looking to make a statement.

John Karalis 🇬🇷 🇺🇦 @John_Karalis
This is just a great win for the Celtics. With all these guys out against a team bearing down on them in the standings, to hold on with this kind of effort makes this one a highlight win

Dan Roche @RochieWBZ
That's a heckuva <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Celtics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Celtics</a> win basically down 4 starters and an off night of shooting from Tatum. So many regular season games…this one will go into the character-building file in this '22-'23 campaign!

Tim Doyle @TimDoyle00
Down 4 starters and Celtics beat 76ers. True sign of a TEAM. 76ers are a hard time to figure 🤔

Trevor Hass @TrevorHass
That's a pretty gutsy win for the Celtics. No Smart, then no Rob or Al, then no JB. Deepest team in the league, and it showed tonight.

The Celtics only continue to prove why they are one of the best and deepest teams in the NBA. Without four starters and Tatum only notching 12 points, Boston needed its depth to come up big on Wednesday.

The Celtics will host the Charlotte Hornets on Friday and the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday before traveling to face the Milwaukee Bucks early next week ahead of the All-Star Game.