What the phuck!

I admit, I didn't see much of the Celtics-Sixers game last night. Every time I paid attention, Boston seemed to have a comfortable 6-12 point lead. I thought it was in the bag.

Obviously, I was surprised when I looked up late in the fourth and saw the Celtics were down eight. The Sixers held on to win 95-90 at the TD Banknorth Garden. Philly (36-35) put it away by going on a 19-0 run in the fourth that the Celts (55-15) couldn't recover from.

The 76ers love to run and they've been playing really well lately with Andre Iguodala (game-high 28 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals) and Andre Miller (20 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) setting the tone. Rookie Thaddeus Young (16 points, 9 rebounds) and Samuel Dalembert (12 rebounds) also contributed to the win.

Amazingly, this is the first time all season Philly has been over .500. They could be dangerous in the Eastern Conference playoffs (something you can't say of some of the teams jockeying for the 6-8th spots). The Sixers could end up as high as fifth seed.

Kevin Garnett (18 points, 5 rebounds) played well but the same can't be said for the rest of his teammates, except for Leon Powe (16 points and 7 rebounds in 22 minutes). Ray Allen was held to 14 points (6 assists) and Paul Pierce only managed 12 points. Rajon Rondo had seven assists and three steals but just six points, way down from his recent scoring binge. Eddie House added 11 points in the loss.

The C's led 28-22 after the first quarter and 52-48 at the half. After beating the Sixers in all three of their earlier meetings, the Celts seemed to be in good shape. Boston outscored Philly, 19-18 in the third but they crashed and burned in the fourth, getting dominated, 29-19.

The stat of the game was the 76ers advantage at the line: 15 more free throws made (30-15). Philly also outrebounded Boston by eight (42-34) which nullified the Celts crisp passing (28 assists on 34 baskets).

Boston has now lost two in a row, a rare occurrence this season. They'll have their hands full on Wednesday too as the Phoenix Suns (who had won seven in a row before losing to the Pistons in OT last night) come to Boston. The C's will be looking to knock off the Suns after Phoenix beat Boston on its West Coast trip (right after they acquired Shaq).