Boston escaped a near 24-point collapse against the 76ers by diving for loose balls and crashing the offensive glass.

The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers announced their starting lineups ahead of their opening Emirates NBA Cup game on Friday. The Celtics enter Friday's game on the back of two big wins after their 0-3 start to the season, and will look to keep moving in the right direction against their Atlantic Division rivals.

The Celtics hung on late, this time needing the 76ers to miss at the buzzer. The end result was a 109-108 Boston victory Friday from Philadelphia. The C’s won their third straight game, getting to 3-3, while the Sixers dropped to 4-1. Boston also improved to 1-0 in NBA Cup East Group B play.

Throughout the first quarter of the Friday night matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics, VJ Edgecombe attempted just one shot. Since the

Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzalez brought the effort Boston needed to beat the rival (and previously undefeated) 76ers in Philadelphia.

The 76ers will be down a pair of rotation players as they face the Celtics at 7 p.m. Friday from Philadelphia. Paul George (left knee surgery) and Jared McCain (right thumb surgery) are both out for Friday’s contest as they have yet to play this season.

Just a day removed from enacting their vengeance against the Philadelphia 76ers in another one-point nailbiter and winning their third straight game this season