Celtics Clinch A Narrow Win Over 76ers

PHILADELPHIA -- Isaiah Thomas scored 37 points, including the go-ahead layup with 30.2 seconds left, as the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 107-106 on Saturday night.

Thomas equaled his season high, and fell one point short of his career high as Boston won for the third time in four games and the sixth time in eight. The Celtics defeated the 76ers for the nine straight time.

Avery Bradley added 20 points for Boston. Al Horford had 11, and Jae Crowder contributed 10.

Rookie forward Dario Saric equaled his career highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds for Philadelphia, which dropped its six straight.

Ersan Ilyasova had 18 points for the Sixers, while Sergio Rodriguez and Jahlil Okafor had 15 each. Gerald Henderson chipped in 13.

The Sixers had just 10 available players. Rookie center Joel Embiid rested, while Jerryd Bayless (wrist) and Robert Covington (knee) missed the game with injuries. Ben Simmons (foot) and Nerlens Noel (knee) have yet to play this season.

The game was knotted at 100-100 when the 5-9 Thomas found himself isolated against the 6-10 Saric on the left side of the court. He darted past him and scored easily, giving Boston the lead for good.

Bradley added a free throw with 16.3 seconds left, and Marcus Smart made two more with 8.6 seconds to play, putting the Celtics up 105-100.

Ilyasova then sandwiched two 3-pointers around two free throws by Horford, with the second of Ilyasova's bombs at the buzzer.

Boston, which trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, twice led by as many as seven in the fourth quarter, the last time at 98-91 on Thomas' free throw with 3:05 to play. That was part of a stretch that saw Thomas score 12 straight Celtics points.

The Sixers then assembled a 9-2 rush capped by Saric's two baskets, the last a layup with 34.6 seconds left that tied the game at 100-all.

Philadelphia rode 11 points from Rodriguez and Henderson to a 53-45 halftime lead. The Sixers shot 48.6 percent from the floor in the half, and went 9-of-18 from 3-point range.

Thomas topped Boston with 15 points in the first 24 minutes.

Boston rallied to take a 71-67 lead late in the third quarter courtesy of a 13-2 flurry in which Bradley and Thomas accounted for all the points. Philadelphia forged a 74-74 tie by the end of the period, on a layup by backup point guard T.J. McConnell with 2.9 seconds remaining.

NOTES: G-F Nik Stauskas made his first start of the season for Philadelphia, in place of F Robert Covington. A Sixers spokesman said before the game that the statuses of Covington, C Joel Embiid, and G Jerryd Bayless are yet to be determined for Monday's game against Denver. ... Earlier on Saturday, the Celtics assigned F Jordan Mickey, who hadn't played in five straight games, to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League. The plan is for Mickey to rejoin the team Monday in Houston. ... The Sixers honored their 1966-67 NBA championship team. Seven members of that team - Billy Cunningham, Dave Gambee, Hal Greer, Matt Guokas Jr., Wali Jones, Bill Melchionni and Chet Walker - were in attendance.