PHILADELPHIA -- Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas has been lobbying for more fourth-quarter minutes. He showed Saturday night why he deserves them.

Thomas scored 37 points, including the go-ahead layup with 30.2 seconds left, as the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 107-106.

Thomas equaled his season high and fell one point short of his career high as Boston won for the third time in four games and the sixth time in eight. The Celtics also defeated the Sixers for the ninth straight time.

"I just love the fourth quarter," Thomas said. "I just want to win, whether it's making plays for myself or making plays for my teammates. I get ultra-aggressive in that fourth quarter and that's what I've always done."

Thomas scored 12 straight Boston points in one stretch of the fourth quarter and had 13 in the quarter in all.

"Some guys get a little tight, a little timid," he said. "I embrace it. I want to be great. I want to be somebody my teammates can call on when the game is close."

It marked the fifth time this season an opposing point guard has scored 30 points or more against Philadelphia.

"You see it time and time again with some people who come through our building," Sixers coach Brett Brown said, "and you saw it again tonight. We give him credit. He's hard to guard."

Thomas finished the night 11 of 19 from the floor and 2 of 3 from the 3-point line. He also buried 13 of 15 free throws.

"We're a little bit like, 'That's Isaiah,'" Boston coach Brad Stevens said, "but he has a special ability to score the ball."

Avery Bradley added 20 points for the Celtics. Al Horford had 11 and Jae Crowder contributed 10.

Rookie forward Dario Saric equaled his career highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds for Philadelphia, which dropped its sixth straight.

Ersan Ilyasova had 18 points for the Sixers, and Sergio Rodriguez and Jahlil Okafor scored 15 each. Gerald Henderson chipped in 13.

The Sixers had just 10 available players. Rookie center Joel Embiid rested, and Jerryd Bayless (wrist) and Robert Covington (knee) missed the game with injuries. Ben Simmons (foot) and Nerlens Noel (knee) have yet to play this season.

The game was knotted 100-100 when the 5-foot-9 Thomas found himself isolated against the 6-10 Saric on the left side of the court. He darted past him and scored easily, giving Boston the lead for good.

"I'm angry because of that situation," Saric said. "I think we lost the game there because he's so fast. He's an unbelievable player. ... In that moment, I expected somebody to be behind me -- somebody, maybe, to protect the rim."

Bradley added a free throw with 16.3 seconds left and Marcus Smart made two more with 8.6 seconds to play, putting the Celtics up 105-100.

Ilyasova then sandwiched two 3-pointers around two free throws by Horford, with the second of Ilyasova's bombs at the buzzer.

Brown said he was disappointed with the loss but heartened by the way the team bounced back from a poor showing in Friday's 105-88 loss to Orlando.

"This group has a character I respect," he said, "in that they reload after laying eggs."

Brown was further encouraged by the performance of Saric, who began the night averaging 8.7 points on 36.6 percent shooting from the field. Brown said the rookie "was a man down there (in the low post) tonight" while playing his best game to date.

"The last five, six games, my confidence was really low," Saric said. "This game, when you get the first easy basket or (play) good defense, after that it's easier playing."

Boston, which trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, twice led by as many as seven in the fourth quarter, the last time at 98-91 on Thomas' free throw with 3:05 to play.

The Sixers then assembled a 9-2 rush capped by Saric's two baskets, the last a layup with 34.6 seconds left that tied the score at 100.

Philadelphia rode 11 points from Rodriguez and Henderson to a 53-45 halftime lead. The Sixers shot 48.6 percent from the floor in the half and went 9 of 18 from 3-point range.

Thomas topped Boston with 15 points in the first 24 minutes.

Boston rallied to take a 71-67 lead late in the third quarter courtesy of a 13-2 flurry in which Bradley and Thomas accounted for all the points. Philadelphia forged a 74-74 tie by the end of the quarter on a layup by backup point guard T.J. McConnell with 2.9 seconds remaining.

NOTES: G-F Nik Stauskas made his first start of the season for Philadelphia, in place of F Robert Covington. Stauskas scored 10 points in a little more than 33 minutes. ... Sixers coach Brett Brown said the availability of Covington, C Joel Embiid and G Jerryd Bayless is "up in the air" for Monday's game against Denver. ... The Celtics assigned F Jordan Mickey, who hadn't played in five straight games, to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League. The plan is for Mickey to rejoin the team on Monday in Houston. ... The Sixers honored their 1966-67 NBA championship team. Seven members of that team -- Billy Cunningham, Dave Gambee, Hal Greer, Matt Guokas Jr., Wali Jones, Bill Melchionni and Chet Walker -- were in attendance.