Doc Rivers Sounds Off on Grant Williams After Sixers Defeat Celtics

Doc Rivers Philadelphia 76ers

Getty Head coach Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Though the Philadelphia 76ers had the game in hand against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, the squad did their best to make things as interesting as possible up seven with nine seconds left.

First came Marcus Smart‘s made free throw, followed by an intentional miss that turned into a Derrick White and-one three. After White converted the four-point play, the Sixers then fouled Grant Williams on the ensuing inbounds, giving the C’s the ball down two with two seconds on the clock.

Thankfully, Jayson Tatum missed a fadeaway shot as the clock ticked down, securing Philadelphia’s victory. And immediately after the game, Doc Rivers vocalized his frustration on Williams’ “foul.”

“We were trying to give them the game back,” Rivers told reporters. “I mean, we really tried. We did a lot of things that you can’t do, from pulling in from the corner, which we never do. I think we did it four times; they scored on three of them. But they had another one, fouling a guy on a layup. We went through the whole laundry list. Falling out of bounds at the end of the game where you know they’re not going to give it to you.”

“Knowing that the Celtics flop, you know that they were going to do that at the end; we said that in the timeout. Not paying attention when the guys on the free throw line, which is clearly, I mean, we had the whole gambit. So in some ways, it was a good way to win because it gave us material in a crazy way, to hit home about all the little points,” Rivers finished.

Had the Sixers lost the game, it would have spoiled a brilliant effort from Joel Embiid.


Jayson Tatum Praises Joel Embiid After Sixers Beat Celtics

On the game, Embiid finished with 52 points on 20-25 from the field, an impressive stat line that might have cemented his claim to the MVP trophy this year.

After the effort, Tatum couldn’t help but praise the former Kansas Jayhawk.

“I mean, s***, I wasn’t guarding him, but he had a good game, obviously,” Tatum said, smirking, per NBC Sports Boston. “He willed his team to a victory.”

Unfortunately, Embiid didn’t get much from his teammates, aside from PJ Tucker, who accounted for nine points in the fourth quarter.

James Harden finished with a 20-10 double-double while Tyrese Maxey netted just five points in 40 minutes of work. His output is particularly concerning given his streakiness against Boston this season.

In four games versus the Celts this year, Maxey’s averaging just 10.0 points on 21.4% from three. Even scarier, his offensive rating plummets versus the C’s; at 81.0, his offensive rating versus Boston is the second-lowest of any opponent this season and a distant cry from his normal 120 offensive rating overall.

Chalk it up to the Celtics’ excellent wing defenders, but Maxey versus the Smart/White/Jaylen Brown (who didn’t play)/Tatum combination is worth monitoring if these two teams meet up again in the playoffs.


Joe Mazzulla Praises PJ Tucker in Sixers Win over Celtics

Back to Tucker.

The grizzled veteran finished with 11 points on the night, nine of which came in the final frame. His corner threes came right on time, a factor Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla thought tipped the balance in Philly’s favor.

“If [PJ] Tucker doesn’t make those three threes, it’s a completely different game. Or if we let Embiid keep going, maybe he misses a couple. You don’t know,” Mazzulla said. “But I thought our guys competed. I thought they were very detailed in keeping him off the free-throw line. I thought he just had a great night, and we weren’t tremendous on the offensive end like we normally are.”

The Sixers are back in action against the Miami Heat on Thursday night.