The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics, 82-81, on Monday night in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference second round series. It would be kind to call the game a defensive battle. Both teams simply struggled from the floor throughout the night. For the game, the Sixers shot just 40.8 percent to 41.8 percent for the Celtics.
The Celtics began the fourth quarter in a six-point deficit after scoring just 11 in the third quarter. They chipped away as the Sixers scored just two points over a nearly five-minute stretch in the fourth quarter. The Celtics finally took the lead back, 72-71, on an Avery Bradley 3-pointer with 2:20 to play, setting up what would be a tense final two minutes.
The lead changed hands three more times before the end of regulation, and became Philadelphia's for good on a falling Evan Turner layup with only 40 seconds to play.
Turner finished with 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting, in addition to six rebounds. Jrue Holiday pitched in 18 to lead the team, with 12 of those points coming from 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Spencer Hawes had 10 points to go with his eight rebounds. Lavoy Allen came off the bench to pitch in 10 points, including a shot clock-beating 22-foot 2-pointer to break a 65-65 tie. He has now hit double-digit scoring in three games this postseason after doing it only four times during the regular season.
Ray Allen shot 7-for-14 on his way to leading the Celtics with 17 points. Kevin Garnett had another solid outing, scoring 15 points with 12 rebounds. Rajon Rondo finished with eight points, 13 assists and seven rebounds.
The win was Philadelphia's first postseason win in Boston since Game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals. The Sixers have now played in three consecutive one-point postseason games, the first time that has ever happened among the 476 total playoff games the team has played. The series heads to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Wednesday.
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