(Basketball news) The Boston Celtics came back in empathic fashion as they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 121-87 to level the series. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown scored 25 points while Malcolm Brogdon added 23 points making six 3-pointers as Derrick White and Marcus Smart added 15 points apiece but Jayson Tatum had an off game as he played most of the game in foul trouble and was held to seven points.
For the 76ers, Tobias Harris led the scoring with 16 points while freshly crowned MVP Joel Embiid finished with 15 points, three rebounds and five blocks in his first game back from a sprained right knee as James Harden, missed all six 3-pointers and shot 2 for 14 overall finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“I think we’ve just got to take more pride in ourselves. That’s it,” Brown said. “I just feel like we underperformed last game. We wanted to come out and play to the best of our ability. And that’s what we did.”
“I felt pretty good to play and I felt like I could help the team,” Embiid said. “I feel like I just got this out the way. Disappointed by the loss. But that’s a step toward getting back to myself.”
“Hostile environment. But it should be fun,” he said. “We should all be excited to embrace that challenge.”
Joel Embiid created history as he became the first player from Africa to win the MVP trophy. The 29-year-old from Yaoundé, Cameroon has averaged 33.1 points as he subsequently won his second straight scoring title, averaged 10.2 rebounds and tied a career high with 4.2 assists per game. Jokic finished runner-up in the MVP voting, and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks was third. Embiid received 73 first-place votes. Jokic received 15 first-place votes, and Antetokounmpo got 12.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Embiid said. “A lot of hard work. I’ve been through a lot. I’m not just talking about basketball. I’m talking about my life. My story. Where I come from. How I got here and what it took for me to be here.”
Also read: NBA: Lakers take game 1 against Warriors while Knicks level up the series with Heat
