PHILADELPHIA -- As the 76ers -- minus four of their top eight rotation players, including stars Joel Embiid and Paul George -- opened a 26-point lead over the Boston Celtics with 2:56 to go in the third quarter Sunday, it looked like another rough loss for the defending champions.
But Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla watched his players' body language, judging when it might be time to pull the starters with a significant game Tuesday in Cleveland against the East-leading Cavaliers.
"I was kind of studying their body language and it looked like they really, really wanted to do what it took to win," Mazzulla said after the game. "So I kind of stuck with them."
Mazzulla's belief turned out to be warranted. Boston closed the game on a 54-20 run -- including going 12-for-16 from 3-point range over the final 15 minutes -- to emerge with a 118-110 victory.
"We just had to be honest with ourselves at halftime," said Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who had 25 of his 35 points after halftime. "They had 20 points in transition. Our competitive spirit wasn't where it needed to be. Joe was like, 'Yo if you're tired, then just tell me. I'll sit you guys down, let the stay-ready group play.' And we just had a choice to make.
"It was a long third quarter, it didn't go our way right away and we just had to keep fighting. But it brought the best out of us, it brought -- that's how we're supposed to play. It took a little bit from everybody. Our competitive joy was there on both ends. And it was just fun to be a part of."
Before Derrick White drained a 3-pointer with 2:42 to go in the third, the Celtics had gone 9-for-33 from 3-point range. But then Boston rattled off four straight triples to end the third -- two from White, another from Sam Hauser and one from Tatum -- as part of a 16-4 run that cut Boston's deficit to 14 points to start the fourth quarter.
From that point, the Celtics were confident they could continue to chip away if they stuck to their game plan.
Tatum hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Boston a 101-100 lead midway through the fourth quarter, then he blocked Tyrese Maxey's 3-point attempt that led to a Luke Kornet fast-break dunk and a Philadelphia timeout.
The Celtics went on a 41-10 run over eight minutes to come away with a third straight victory for the first time in a month.
"I think so," Jaylen Brown said when asked if this was a special win for Boston. "Just how easy it is to just call it a night and just throw the subs in and just come up with some type of excuse to give the media or whatever.
"We rallied back, we put the effort in, we turned it up, we stayed together and we persevered through a win even though we probably shouldn't have been down that much in the first place, but I think it's a credit to us that we was able to get it back on track in a hostile environment."
It looked like the 76ers were headed toward their fifth win in six games -- all without Embiid on the court -- before their second-half collapse.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse said before Sunday's game that Embiid, who has missed 15 straight games due to knee swelling and a foot sprain, and George, who has missed the past four because of a finger injury, could play sometime this week.
Philadelphia plays at home Tuesday against the Dallas Mavericks -- in what could be Anthony Davis' debut with the Mavericks -- and Wednesday against the Miami Heat before playing Friday in Detroit and Sunday in Milwaukee.