PHILADELPHIA _ It was a typical night for the 76ers.
They had an 11-point cushion late in the second quarter only to blow it after intermission and didn't make enough plays down the stretch. All of that led to a 107-106 victory by the Boston Celtics on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The loss dropped the Sixers to 4-16 and extended their losing streak to six games. It also marked their ninth straight defeat to the Celtics (12-8).
Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley led the visitors. Thomas finished with 37 points and seven assists. Bradley added 20 points and nine rebounds.
Dario Saric paced the Sixers with 21 points and 12 rebounds in a reserve role.
The Sixers were without Joel Embiid, who had a scheduled off day as part of his recovery from two foot surgeries. Following the team's plan of not playing him in back-to-back games, Embiid sat after scoring 25 points on Friday night against Orlando.
As of Saturday night, the team hadn't decided if Embiid would play Monday night against the Denver Nuggets at home or Tuesday night at the Memphis Grizzlies.
Robert Covington (sprained left knee) and Jerryd Bayless (left wrist soreness) were also sidelined Saturday. They're both listed as questionable for Monday.
They were not missed as Saric scored on an underhand finger roll to knot the score at 100 with 34.6 seconds left. Thomas put the Celtics up two with a layup four seconds later.
The Sixers had a chance to knot the score. Hollis Thompson drove the lane and missed a shot. Boston grabbed the rebound. Bradley was fouled and made the second foul shot to put the Celtics up three with 16.3 seconds remaining.
Saric misfired on a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. Marcus Smart was fouled after grabbing the defensive rebound. He made a pair of foul shots with 8.6 seconds left to give the Celtics a five-point advantage. Ersan Ilyasova closed the gap to two points (105-103) with a 3-pointer with 2.8 left.
Al Horford answered with a pair of foul shots with 1.7 seconds left to put the Celtics up, 107-103. Ilyasova then hit a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game.
