Jaylen Brown scored 32 points, Anfernee Simons added 19 and the Boston Celtics never trailed in a 109-108 win against the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA.
Payton Pritchard and Derrick White had 15 points apiece for the Celtics, who evened their record by winning their third straight after beginning the season with three consecutive losses. Boston took revenge fora 117-116 season-opening defeat to the 76ers on October 22.
Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points to lead Philadelphia, who entered the game as one of four unbeaten teams in the league.
The game was the first as part of the NBA Cup for both teams.
Maxey's drive with 20.8 seconds to play pulled Philadelphia to within 109-108. After a Boston turnover on their ensuing possession, Maxey missed on an underhand scoop shot from the lane with four seconds left that would have given Philadelphia the lead.
Boston's Josh Minott then missed both free throws with 3.8 seconds left, but Philadelphia's Joel Embiid was long on a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Celtics led by 20 points in a dominating first half, but Maxey's drive with 6 1/2 minutes left in the third tied it at 72-all. However, Philadelphia were never able to go in front.
Embiid, playing a minutes restriction of about 20 minutes after offseason knee surgery, had 20 points in 25 minutes. Rookie VJ Edgecombe had 17 points after scoring 34 against the Celtics in his NBA debut.
Philadelphia came back from a 16-point, fourth-quarter deficit against Washington in a 139-34 overtime win and nearly rallied against the Celtics.
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