BOSTON _ You realized the 76ers' trip to Beantown was a close to being Mission Impossible when their chartered plane exited Philadelphia International Airport late Wednesday night.
That's because their best player, Joel Embiid, and their heart and soul, T.J. McConnell, weren't on the trip. So the Boston Celtics, who boast the NBA's best record, were supposed to destroy the Sixers on Thursday night at the TD Garden.
They ended up winning, but it fell far short of being a massacre. In fact, the Celtics'108-97 victory was closer than the final margin would indicate.
Boston had to keep fighting off charges by its undermanned foe.
The Celtics finally got some breathing room on Al Horford's jumper that gave them a 103-90 lead with 1 minute, 25 seconds remaining.
Kyrie Irving paced the Celtics with a game-high 36 points. Horford added 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Philly native Marcus Morris had 17 points in a reserve role.
The victory improved the Celtics to 19-4 and enabled them to win the first two of this season's four meetings in the series. Meanwhile, the Sixers dropped to 12-9. It was their second loss in three games. They are also 1-2 without Embiid.
Ben Simmons, JJ Redick and Dario Saric kept them in the game on a night when Robert Covington continued to struggle.
Saric finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Redick added with 17 points while making 4 of 6 3-pointers. Simmons had 15 points, seven assists, six rebounds five steals and five turnovers. Meanwhile, Covington finished with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting _ including 3 of 10 on 3s. The small forward has made just 9 of 36 shots in his last three games, including 4 of 24 on 3-pointers.
The Sixers could have used Embiid and McConnell.
Embiid has not been cleared to play on consecutive nights after left knee surgery in March. The center played 32 minutes in Wednesday's victory over the Washington Wizards. McConnell was sidelined with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder. The backup point guard suffered the injury in the third quarter of Wednesday's matchup. An MRI exam Thursday morning showed no structural damage.
Reserve center Jahlil Okafor also didn't travel with the team. He and the team decided it was best to work out in the Philadelphia area instead of traveling to Boston. That's because the Sixers did not have a morning shootaround that would have enabled him to work out. Plus, he would have been listed as an inactive player for the game. So both sides decided it was best for him to remain home.
To their credit, the undermanned Sixers kept battling. Down 10 points at intermission, they went on to take a 66-65 lead on Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot's 3-pointer with 3:56 remaining in the third.
The Celtics responded with a run and took a comfortable double-digit lead. However, the Sixers kept getting back into the game. But Horford's jumper with 1:25 left was too much to overcome.
This game was a homecoming for Amir Johnson (six points, six rebounds), who started at center in place of Embiid. The 13th-year veteran played the last two seasons for the Celtics.
