Sixers Close The Deal in Beating Celtics

Before recapping Friday's 89-86 win over the Boston Celtics, we present the best news of the evening - Kate returns from assignment to cover the Sixers beginning Saturday in Milwaukee.

Wow, we can hear the cheering through the computer and rightly so.

Anyway, the Sixers again showed their ability to bounce back from a difficult defeat in beating the Celtics before an enthusiastic sold-out crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.

After not closing matters in Wednesday's 110-105 overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Sixers needed to show they can come through late in the game.

This time, up three and with the ball, Andre Iguodala sealed the win on a driving layup with 12.8 seconds left.

Iguodala, in a similar situation with the game tied against Oklahoma City, was called for a charge with 1.9 seconds left in regulation.

Doug Collins made it clear that he wants the ball in Iguodala's hands in these late-game situations.

While Iguodala has proven to be a strong creator, it might be better to spread the duties around. This time the Sixers prevailed but it wouldn't hurt to put the ball in Jrue Holiday's hands at times, just to give teams something else to think about.

And Iguodala got a break by having Sasha Pavlovic on him. That said, it was  still a great play by somebody who has threatened to earn a triple-double almost on a nightly basis recently. He had 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Now skeptics may say that the Celtics didn't have Big Baby Davis and Shaq and that is true, but Jeff Green didn't look too bad (18 points) in the Celtics frontcourt.

Green and fellow former Thunder teammate Nenad Krstic combined for 34 of the Celtics 86 points, although Krstic seemed to tire at the end.

Of course there won't be many nights where Ray Allen shoots just 2 for 11, but the Sixers took advantage of his off-night, where he missed several open looks.

And doesn't KG look like he has aged? In fact one has to wonder if Boston will have enough gas to reach the postseason finish line.

That said, Boston is still a major NBA title contender and it was an impressive win for the Sixers.

Speaking of that, the Sixers took advantage of their young legs to outscore Boston 15-5 in fast break points. Another key was that the Sixxers committed just eight turnovers.

So now it's on to the final extended road trip of the season. To wipe away the disappointment of Wednesday's loss and head on the road with such a big win should do wonders for the Sixers.

And the fact that they came through late in the game against one of the league's best teams, is another step in the continued growing process.

Each week, Kate will check in from the road and answer fan questions about the Sixers. Click hereto ask Kate a question or e-mail her at kfagan@phillynews.com.

Download our new iPhone/Android app for all of Kate's Sixers coverage, plus app-exclusive analysis and videos.