PHILADELPHIA — So much for Boston’s grim outlook once Rajon Rondo was lost for the season.

Avery Bradley has followed the trusted blueprint of dogged defense and impact scoring to help push the Celtics up the standings.

Bradley scored a season-high 22 points, and Paul Pierce had 18 points and 11 rebounds Tuesday night to lead the Boston Celtics to a 109-101 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Kevin Garnett scored 18 points to help the Celtics improve to 12-4 since Rondo was lost with a torn knee ligament. The Celtics are in seventh place but within 1 1/2 games of fourth place. Bradley was 10 of 15, and chipped in seven rebounds and five assists.

“My teammates have confidence in me and I have confidence in myself,” Bradley said. “When I have an open shot, I have to take it. That’s how we play on this team. It helps us when I do that.”

Led by Pierce, the Celtics controlled the game and used a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to seal it. Last May, these teams went to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. On Wednesday, the Sixers lost for the ninth time in 10 games and are well out of the playoff race.

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Jrue Holiday had 18 points and 10 assists for the Sixers, and Thaddeus Young had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Evan Turner scored 18 points.

“We kept competing, trying to bring effort,” Turner said. “But it’s rough. They hit 3s and made some tough shots.”

The Sixers beat the Celtics twice this season but are falling because of injuries and a roster ill-equipped to handle the losses of postseason standouts Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams.

There was some mild concern late in the fourth period when Holiday was hurt. He grabbed his right ankle and hobbled back on defense after an awkward drive. He hopped on one foot after a steal attempt went nowhere but stayed in the game.

Nothing much went right for the Sixers.

“We just missed too many easy shots,” said Royal Ivey, who scored 10 points.

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The Sixers had no real answer for Pierce, who hit his first four 3-point attempts. When the Sixers went on a mini-run to close within eight, Pierce and Jason Terry connected on consecutive 3s to build a comfortable lead.

Pierce has averaged 21.8 points over 54 career games against the 76ers.

At one point in the first half, both teams were 15 of 32 from the field. The Celtics found other ways to separate themselves from the Sixers: Boston went to the free-throw line and made 3s. The Sixers missed 9 of 11 3-point attempts in the first half and were 0 of 3 from the free-throw line.

The Sixers finished 5 of 21 on 3s and 14 of 18 on foul shots They did score 64 points in the paint.

But they only made 41 of a whopping 100 shots from the floor. The Celtics shot a solid 55 percent in the third (11 of 20) and 53 percent (10 of 19) in the fourth to methodically build a 15-point lead.

“It was who could score the most. That’s not the way we want to play the game,” Garnett said.

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Boston got sloppy at the end of the third quarter and had three turnovers in the final 1:30. That helped the Sixers score six straight points and slice the lead to five. Jordan Crawford opened the fourth period with a pair of 3-pointers that made it 91-76 and the Celtics never let up from there.

Crawford’s points and production off the bench were needed for a veteran team with another game Wednesday night at Indiana. He scored 12 points and fellow reserve Jeff Green added 16. Pierce’s perfection helped the Celtics go 11 of 19 from 3-point range.

“That’s the new us in a lot of ways, the ball finds the open guy,” Coach Doc Rivers said. “It’s simple but it’s hard to do unless you buy in. Everyone has bought in.”

 

NOTES: Injured 76ers center Andrew Bynum (knees) was re-examined in New York on Tuesday by Dr. David Altchek. GM Tony DiLeo said surgery remained an option. Sixers guard Nick Young (sprained left ankle) didn’t play. The 76ers will play two exhibitions in Europe. They’ll play Uxue Bilbao on Oct. 6 in Bilbao, Spain, and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 8 in Manchester, England.

 


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