The Boston Celtics rallied from 22 points down to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 114-103 and boost their NBA title credentials at the O2 Arena in London.

Jaylen Brown scored 21 points with Kyrie Irving adding 20 and Marcus Morris 19 for the Celtics, helping Boston turn a 49-27 deficit midway through the second period into a 69-68 lead by the middle of the third and sending them to a seventh straight win. JJ Redick led Philadelphia with 22 while Ben Simmons added 16 and Joel Embiid 15.

The eighth regular-season NBA game to be played in London was one of the most hotly-anticipated – with the cheapest tickets going for up to £600 on the day of the game – and this clash of two young, exciting teams did not disappoint as a contest.

Jaylen Brown: 'Sport is a mechanism of control in America' Read more

The 76ers hope they are nearing the end of ‘The Process’ – several years of fielding losing teams which has helped them amass a young core of elite talent, led by Embiid and Simmons, through the draft system.

They arrived in London on the back of four straight wins and the vision was clear to see in a first half when they put Boston in the shade. Simmons played his part, though it was the veteran guard Redick who did the heavy lifting. The 33-year-old hit a string of three-pointers, scoring 13 points in a first quarter which ended with the 76ers leading 28-23.

It threatened to get ugly for Boston in the second quarter, with the Eastern Conference leaders looking well short of their usual rhythm. They scored only four points in the first five minutes and 45 seconds of the period, dropping into a 49-27 hole as Redick and Simmons paced the 76ers. But a team that pride themselves on preparation did not panic.

Brown stopped the rot for Boston with a three from the corner, turning to blow a kiss to the Philly bench as he skipped back, and it proved a turning point. The Celtics could not get level before the break, but it was the start of a 20-8 run that cut the deficit to 57-48 at half-time.

Boston have key veterans of their own in Irving, who arrived from the Cleveland Cavaliers in a summer trade, and Al Horford, but they are every bit as young as Philadelphia and ahead in their own process. It was Brown and standout rookie Jayson Tatum who did much of the work in the key third period, during which Boston outscored Philadelphia 37-22.

The NBA has surpassed the NFL as the league of America’s future | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Read more

Embiid’s dunk for Philadelphia got the crowd off their feet as the buzzer sounded, but it did not count as time had expired and Boston went into the final period leading 85-79.

The Eastern Conference leaders continued to pull clear, with Marcus Smart’s three-pointer bringing up three figures with seven minutes left to play – making it a 69-31 Boston run in 21 minutes of action.

Things got testy in the fourth quarter, with Boston’s Morris taking exception to a foul from Simmons to spark a brief melee, but the main battle of the night had already been settled in the Celtics’ favour.