Sixers 111, Celtics 102: MCW makes TD Garden his house

In Brandon's game preview this afternoon, he talked about 76ers rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams returning to is native city of Boston for the second time as a pro. Carter-Williams grew up in nearby Hamilton, Mass. and put on a show in the TD Garden, finishing with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists on 9-14 shooting from the field while yielding just 1 turnover. After averaging 4.1 turnovers per game in the month of March, MCW has just 3 turnovers in the Sixers' three games in April.

"We played through Michael and Thad," Sixers Brett Brown said. "I thought they did a good job of closing out a game."

Carter-Williams took over down the stretch. When the Celtics cut the Sixers' lead to 89-83 with 6:26 left to play, MCW responded by scoring the next 8 points for the Sixers.

"We really wanted to win," Carter-Williams said. "I think it's a great win for us. As a leader on this team, and the freedom I have to take shots, I'm expected to make some and tonight, that's what I did."

Henry Sims was also sensational against the Celtics, tying MCW with a game-high 24 points. He did most of his work by getting to the free throw line 18 times and converting 14 of those attempts. He added 9 rebounds and dished 2 assists as well.

"He was in a bull mode," Brown said. "He was in a really aggressive attack mode. He'd bury his head and try to get to the rim at all costs."

Now is as good a time as any to mention Sims converted just 57.1 of his free throw attempts in Cleveland and has now made 77.1 percent of his attempts in a Sixers uniform.

With the win, the Sixers have now won 17 on the season, eclipsing the 16.5 over/under line Vegas set for the team back in September. For the record, I had them pegged at 13 before this stretch of 82 games kicked off with a ridiculous upset over the Miami Heat.

Brown's crew is now three games ahead the Bucks in the win column and are still four games behind Orlando. There's a 19.9 percent chance Philly will have the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. I pray it's enough for a certain guy with the first name Andrew.

But at the same time, this was a nice win to watch, especially in person. The players weren't elated in the locker room following the game, but they were confident. Dare I say, they might be developing some swagger down the stretch here. To all those who said this season would be poisonous for young players like MCW, talk to that kid about playing in the NBA. Ask him about winning ball games and the kid knows it's a team effort that takes smart, patient basketball. Dude's gonna be a stone cold killer.

The Sixers have now won 2 of their last 4 after ending that splendid horrid 26-game losing streak.

Brett Brown on the Sixers winning 2 of their last 4 after 26-game losing streak: "We're on a roll!"

— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) April 5, 2014

There's only six games left of the season. Call me crazy, but I'm gonna miss this rag-tag motley crew.