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Celtics hand 76ers their 9th loss in 10 games

It's good that 76ers rookie Arnett Moultrie is on a bit of roll. However, it's not good at all that his play is the most noteworthy element to be culled from the team's latest game, a 109-101 loss to the Boston Celtics Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

It's good that 76ers rookie Arnett Moultrie is on a bit of roll. However, it's not good at all that his play was the most noteworthy element of the team's latest effort, a 109-101 loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Buried on the bench for most of the season, Moultrie scored 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting on a night when the Sixers fell 71/2 games off the pace for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The playoffs seem more unlikely every time the Sixers (23-36) take the court.

Coach Doug Collins was disappointed that the Sixers needed 100 shots to score 101 points, but he was encouraged by Moultrie's play.

"I thought Arnett once again played a really good game for us," Collins said. "It's encouraging to see him growing, which I think is a good sign. I hope we can keep building on that."

While Moultrie's play was encouraging, not much else was. The Sixers were awful defensively. The Celtics connected on 42 of 83 shots. Boston was even better from behind the three-point line, connecting on 11 of 19 shots (57.9 percent).

Boston point guard Avery Bradley, who hit 10 of 15 shots from the field, led the Celtics (32-27) with a season-high 22 points. Bradley also contributed seven rebounds and five assists. Paul Pierce, 6 for 10 from the field (and 4 for 4 from behind the arc), and Kevin Garnett each added 18 points for the Celtics, who are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

After sinking all of his shots on Tuesday, Moultrie has made all of his field-goal attempts (12 for 12) in the team's last four games.

"I hope that I have shown Coach enough so that he keeps turning to me," Moultrie said after the Sixers' ninth loss in their last 10 games. "I'm a lot more comfortable and I think that Coach has gotten more comfortable with me as well. As long as he's comfortable, I'm comfortable. He trusts me a lot more, and that's why you see me a lot more on the floor now."

Moultrie was one of seven Sixers to finish in double figures. Thaddeus Young led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner each scored 18 points. Holiday also had 10 assists; Turner finished with nine rebounds and seven assists. Spencer Hawes scored 14 points, and Royal Ivey, who started in place of the injured Nick Young, scored 10, as did Dorell Wright.

Down by 14 points in the third quarter, the Sixers closed the quarter on a 17-8 run to trail by just 79-74 going into the fourth. But the Celtics opened the final period by outscoring the Sixers, 12-2, and the Sixers never challenged from there.