Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum push Celtics past 76ers in Game 1

Brown finished with 29 points and Jayson Tatum poured in 32 points and 13 rebounds.

The good feelings from the win were tempered, though, after Gordon Hayward rolled his right ankle under the Sixers’ basket with three minutes left. He had a heavy limp as he left the court and did not return.

Joel Embiid had 26 points and 16 rebounds for Philadelphia.

Observations from the game:

▪ A Hayward 3-pointer with 4:21 left in the third gave Boston a 75-66 lead that felt even larger. But the Sixers punched back, holding the Celtics scoreless for over five minutes and using a 15-0 run to take an 81-75 lead. Most of the damage was done with Embiid on the bench. The Celtics appeared too focused on looking for calls during this stretch.

▪ Brown ended the drought with a difficult step-back 3-pointer. Then with Boston trailing by 3, Enes Kanter tussled for a tough offensive rebound before firing a pass to Brown for another three from the same spot on the left arc, tying the score at 86.

Brown’s confidence has grown so much, and when he makes a clean catch the results usually turn out positive. Then he switched to attack mode, drawing a flagrant foul on Al Horford on one drive, and then drawing another on the same possession. He hit all four free throws to put Boston in control. The Sixers pulled within 3 with 1:30 left, but could get no closer.

▪ The Celtics’ defense was locked in at the start. They swarmed passing lanes, had timely traps, clogged driving attempts and just appeared in lockstep. The weird thing was that the stat sheet certainly didn’t offer proof of that, as Philadelphia opened the game by making 9 of 10 shots. But most of them were tough, and the turnovers were flowing, too. It was almost like the 76ers could have used their All-Star point guard to calm things down, but Ben Simmons is out for the year with a  knee injury. Boston forced 17 turnovers.

▪ Tatum started the game by hitting a wide open 18 footer from the right baseline. That’s rarely a good sign for opponents, and it wasn’t in this game, either. Although the All-Star finished the first quarter with just three shots attempts, he caught fire in the second and went to halftime with 21 points and eight rebounds.

▪ Kemba Walker had his bounce, and had to just love knowing that his minutes restriction is a thing of the past. It was put in place as a precaution that would allow Walker to focus on strengthening his knee, but extra rest could be one extra side benefit. Teams have mostly been playing every other day for nearly three weeks.

▪ A rare quiet night for Marcus Smart. He was 0 for 5, which happens, but also had just 1 rebound and 1 assist in 32 minutes.

▪ Kanter was Boston’s first big man sub, which wasn’t a huge surprise given the size he brings to match up against Embiid. But the moment Embiid checked out in the first quarter, Robert Williams checked in. Williams did get a brief second-quarter stint against Embiid, and he was quickly called for a reaching foul. At the other end, though, he used his quickness to chase down his own miss and throw down a dunk. Look for Stevens to deploy Williams for non-Embiid minutes throughout this series. Grant Williams had a brief but productive stint at center in the fourth, too.

▪ There was some discussion about whether rookie defensive stopper Matisse Thybulle might enter the starting lineup for the 76ers. He did not. But when he checked in late in the first quarter, one could see why it remains a possibility. He instantly fought through a screen, caught up to Tatum and smothered his 3-pointer from behind, which almost never happens to Tatum.

▪ With eight minutes left in the third quarter Jaylen Brown was inadvertently kneed in the thigh by Embiid on a drive to the basket. He checked out and received medical attention before warming up on an exercise bike, and he checked back in soon after that.

▪ There is certainly nothing normal about this setup, but for some reason it didn’t seem quite as glaring during the scrimmages and seeding games. Perhaps because there was a sense that it was just a buildup for the postseason. But the reality that this was a true playoff game involving two rivals, and that instead of roaring fans there was a cacophony of sneaker squeaks, is still hard to comprehend.

▪ Patriots coach Bill Belichick spoke to the Celtics via video conference to help get them ready for the postseason.

“He’s obviously one of the best coaches in any sport of all time, and probably renowned as the best preparer of all time, and that’s something that we thought was really important as we head into this time of the year,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “We’re trying our best to keep this fresh, and we also have a lot of time on our hands on these off-days, so it was so nice of Bill to take come time out of his preseason schedule and speak to our team.”

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.