Isaiah Thomas scored the go-ahead layup with 30 seconds left as the Boston Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 107-106 on Saturday.
Thomas finished with 37 points to match his season high and fell one point short of his career high as Boston won for the third time in four games and the sixth time in eight.
“I just love the fourth quarter,” Thomas said. “I just want to win, whether it’s making plays for myself or making plays for my teammates. I get ultra-aggressive in that fourth quarter and that’s what I’ve always done.”
Photo: AP
Thomas scored 12 straight points in one stretch of the fourth quarter and had a total of 13 in front of 17,000 at the Wells Fargo Arena.
“Some guys get a little tight, a little timid,” he said. “I embrace it. I want to be great. I want to be somebody my teammates can call on when the game is close.”
Avery Bradley added 20 points for Boston, who beat the 76ers for the ninth consecutive time. Al Horford had 11 and Jae Crowder contributed 10.
Rookie forward Dario Saric tied his career highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds for Philadelphia, who dropped their sixth straight.
Ersan Ilyasova had 18 points for the Sixers, while Sergio Rodriguez and Jahlil Okafor had 15 each.
In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 38 points as the Raptors routed the Atlanta Hawks 128-84 to stretch their winning streak to a season-best six games.
Lowry also had eight assists and Patrick Patterson tallied 17 points for Toronto, who moved into a tie with the Cleveland Cavaliers for first place in the Eastern Conference.
It was the sixth loss in a row for the Hawks (10-11).
The Raptors (14-6) led by as many as 21 points during the first half, were ahead by 15 points at halftime and by 16 after three quarters, before running away with the contest in the fourth quarter.
Pascal Siakam contributed 12 points, while DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph each had 10 for the Raptors.
Dennis Schroder and Tim Hardaway each scored 15 points for the Hawks, while Dwight Howard and Kris Humphries both had 10 points.
Howard said the Hawks have been blaming each other during the losing skid.
“We just have to stop getting frustrated at each other. We need to get out of our own heads,” he said.
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