NBA: Celtics take down 76ers for 9th straight victory

Jaylen Brown scored 31 points and Jayson Tatum finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to help the Boston Celtics extend their winning streak to nine games by beating the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 117-99 on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia trailed by two with 8:50 to play, but Boston scored the next 16 points to take a 107-89 lead with 4:00 remaining. Boston had a 56-28 edge in rebounds.

Tyrese Maxey tossed in a game-high 32 points for the 76ers, who received 16 points from Ricky Council IV. Tobias Harris and Cameron Payne each finished with 13.

Kristaps Porzingis added 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who made 34 of their 37 free throws. The 76ers were 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.

Philadelphia has lost nine of 13 games since losing Joel Embiid to a knee injury last month, and hasn’t scored more than 104 points in any of its last five games. The 76ers are 1-3 against the Celtics this season.

Philadelphia’s De’Anthony Melton played nine minutes before he left the game with back spasms. He did not return.

The 76ers used an 8-0 run to take an early 11-4 lead, but the Celtics answered by scoring the next 12 points to move in front 16-11. The game was tied, 30-30, after one quarter.

Boston trailed 46-40 with 5:53 remaining in the first half, but closed the quarter on a 13-5 run and led 53-51 at halftime.

Brown led all scorers with 18 points in the first half. He’s had at least 18 points at halftime in each of his last three games.

The Celtics stretched their lead to 13 points by scoring the first 11 points in the third quarter. Boston was up 64-51 following a Porzingis dunk with 9:18 left in the third. The Celtics scored 33 points in the third and had an 86-75 advantage entering the fourth.

–Field Level Media/Reuters