The Boston Celtics continued their run of domination with an absolute demolition job against the Philadelphia 76ers, walloping their division rivals, 135-87.
Doc Rivers had to give it up to his former team. The Sixers head coach lauded the Celtics for playing a much better brand of basketball far removed from their previous iso-reliant offense.
“You watch Boston play, and you can literally see the improvement of their ball movement,” said the Sixers head coach. “The old Boston is more isos. This Boston is driving and playing with each other. That's what makes them so much tougher.”
Doc Rivers: "You watch Boston play, and you can literally see the improvement of their ball movement. The old Boston is more isos. This Boston is driving and playing with each other. That's what makes them so much tougher."
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) February 16, 2022
The Boston Celtics have flipped the script on what was once a despondent season for them. After hovering around the .500 mark for most of the year, they've now ripped off nine straight wins. They haven't been cheap ones either, thoroughly thrashing every opponent they've faced by a wide margin.
Celtics last 3 road games:
— 48-point win in Philly
— 35-point win in Brooklyn
— 33-point win in OrlandoThey are the first team in NBA history with 30-point wins in 3 straight road games.
(Submitted by @gilbert15) pic.twitter.com/eKfI7sHXCr
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 16, 2022




Not only has their offense looked much improved, but their defense has been arguably the best in the league for the past few months.
The Celtics beat the Sixers by 48 points tonight, tied for the 2nd largest road win in franchise history.
Boston has the 2nd best defense in the NBA and have been 1st since Christmas. pic.twitter.com/XhCOjkiEMB
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 16, 2022
There's understandably a lot of excitement as James Harden slowly assimilates himself into the Sixers offense. But there's something to be said of teams that figure things out internally and finally put it all together.
The Celtics have a long way to go, but things are looking up in Beantown.