Celts Suffer Hiccup Against 76ers

By KC Downey in Celtics ⋅ March 25, 2008 at 4:18pm ⋅ Post a comment

The Celtics blew an 11-point fourth quarter lead, falling to the 76ers 95-90. Kevin Garnett had a team-high 18 points but it wasn’t enough, especially in the fourth quarter. In perhaps their biggest collapse of the season, the Celtics saw an 80-69 lead turn into an 88-80 deficit, thanks to a 19-0 run for the 76ers.

Andre Iguodala led the way for Philly with a game-high 28 points, included 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals on the night. Center Sam Dalembert gave a nice defensive effort, finishing with 6 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. Andre Miller also contributed to the win, scoring 20 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

How could the Celtics let an 11-point 4th quarter lead evaporate like that? Well, the Celtics were out-rebounded for the first time in as long as I can remember. (Maybe back to the back-to-back losses against the Wizards?) This included getting owned on the offensive glass (PHI – 12, BOS – 6) and in total rebounds (42-34 in favor of Philly). The 76ers also had 2 less TO’s and 12 less personal fouls, which is pretty surprising considering the C’s had the home court advantage. Who knows.

As if it was any consolation, but Kevin Garnett was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for last week’s games, which saw the Celtics complete the Texas Triangle. I’m sure KG would rather have won the last two nights instead of receive that award, but we’ll take what we can get.

Next up for the Celtics is the Phoenix Suns at the TD BankNorth Garden on Wednesday. The Suns are one of the only teams to not fall victim to the C’s this season, and should present a tough challenge. It’s always fun when Shaq’s around, so this game should be a good one.