On February 16, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued to unfold, with the 76ers sitting at home to meet the Celtics. Harden sat on the sidelines of the game and rang the bell before the start, making his debut at home for fans. But in this game, the 76ers played very bleakly, early by the Celtics to pull away the point difference, half-game behind 27 points, three quarters behind 43 points, the game early loss of suspense. In the end, the Celtics beat the 76ers 135-87 and won nine straight.
In this game, the Celtics felt hot, and they hit consecutive hits from outside the three-point line, which also made the 76ers powerless, and could only watch the point difference being pulled apart step by step. The Celtics hit 25 three-pointers in the game, setting a new team record, shooting 55.6 percent from the field, with nine hitting three-pointers in total, Brown 5-of-7, Tatum 4-of-8, Grant Williams 4-of-5, Neismith 3-of-5, Horford-2 of 2, Smart 1 of 2, Theis 1 of 1, Pritchard 2 of 1 and Thomas 1 of 1. On the other hand, the 76ers scored 32-of-8 three points, and this link was 51 points less than the opponent, and it was not surprising that the fiasco was lost.
48 points to win the 76ers, the Celtics have won 9 consecutive wins, the Eastern Conference has completely rebounded, has come to the sixth position in the East, I believe that in the playoffs, no team is willing to meet them. They also set a number of records in this game, the last 12 games, the Green Army achieved 11 wins and 1 loss, during which the cumulative net win score of 253 points, the second largest net win point in history in 12 games, second only to the 1970-71 season Bucks (+260); three consecutive away net wins of 30 points and above, the first team in NBA history; net win of 48 points, is also the second largest net win difference in the team's history.
In this campaign, the Celtics double probed the heat, Brown played 29 minutes, 10 of 17, 5 of 7 three-pointers, a game-high 29 points plus 8 rebounds and 3 assists; Tatum played 29 minutes, 9 of 17 shots, 4 of 8 three-pointers, 28 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, plus or minus +34, in a post-game interview, the introduction played at the bottom of the screen was "Let Embiid become the brother of Deuce (Tatum's son)."
With a 48-point defeat, Harden was miserable, witnessing 2 consecutive Celtics critical hits. When the 76ers had not been traded before, they were also sitting on the bench, and the Nets lost 91-126 at home by 35 points; this time sitting on the sidelines of the 76ers, it was a 48-point fiasco, which was also a bit painful for Harden. Harden's 76ers debut will have to wait, at least until after the All-Star.