PHILADELPHIA -- The harsh words spoken by Marcus Morris following the Boston Celtics’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday had hung over this franchise like a dark cloud for days.
Listening to their words, listening to Brad Stevens address it, watching the focus they had prior to Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers . . . Morris’ words had definitely struck a chord.
And on a night when the Celtics got so many big-time performances from so many different players, it’s hard to look at their 112-109 win over Philadelphia and not credit Morris’ criticism as being a motivating factor.
Morris’ words seemed to elevate the Celtics’ overall effort and energy on Tuesday to a level that you expect to see from a championship-caliber when challenged by another elite foe.
And as much as the talk following Morris' comments centered around his teammates, he never lost sight of the fact that he too had to step his game up.
Otherwise, his words would be hollow and have no impact other than to reinforce the ever-increasing narrative that there's a divide of sorts within the locker room between the veterans and younger players.
"Last couple games, I had to think about my effect on the game and what I was doing and things like that," said Morris who had 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists and the highest plus/minus (+8) among Boston's starters on Tuesday.
Boston Celtics
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens added, "The whole night we played the right way. We tried to stay within ourselves. We didn’t get too high or too low. We fought. That’s what you have to do to have a chance to win.”
☘️ CELTICS 112, 76ERS 109
And the Celtics got off to a solid start, with Morris leading the way with eight points and five rebounds in the first quarter, which ended with Boston on top 28-23.
Boston continued to play well in the second quarter and went into the half leading 52-46, with Morris’ strong play being aided by Al Horford and Jayson Tatum ,who had 13 and 10 points, respectively, at the half.
And then came the third quarter, which is usually one misadventure after another for the Celtics. In their last two games prior to the Sixers, Boston was outscored in the third by 15 points to the Lakers, and 16 points in the third quarter by the Clippers.
Philadelphia outscored Boston 28-25 in the third, but Boston closed out the quarter by outscoring the Sixers 25-19.
“We were re-focused after that (9-0 Sixers) run and kept doing the things we needed to do,” said Al Horford who had 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. “I was very encouraged. Everybody was really locked in on all the assignments on the defensive end.”
Gordon Hayward added, “We got some timely stops there. Most important, we played and got good shots and didn’t allow them to get too many things in transition. That’s where they are really dangerous.”
And when the Celtics are as locked in as they were against Sixers, they look and play like the team so many anticipated would run away with the Eastern Conference this season instead of the club that’s in a three-team battle (Philly and Indiana are the others) to secure home court advantage at least through the first round of the playoffs.
There are several factors that contributed to one of Boston’s most impressive wins, but one can argue the genesis of what we saw on Tuesday goes back to Morris’ words over the weekend.
“We know who we are,” Celtics guard Marcus Smart told NBC Sports Boston. “We know the potential that we have and what we can do. When you’re not doing your best, sometimes it takes somebody saying something to humble you, bring you back down.”
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.