3 observations after Sixers pull off impressive Christmas win over Celtics – NBC Sports Philadelphia

BOSTON – The Sixers’ season reached a crystal clear peak at Christmas.

The team visited the TD Garden over the holidays and came away with an impressive 118-114 victory over the Celtics.

Tyrese Maxey had 33 points, 12 assists and three steals. Joel Embiid recorded 27 points and nine rebounds.

Caleb Martin scored his most points yet as a Sixer, scoring 23 and making a career-high seven three-pointers.

Jayson Tatum had 32 points and 15 rebounds for the Celtics, who dropped to 22-8.

The 11-17 Sixers were without four players in Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery), KJ Martin (left foot stress reaction), Andre Drummond (left toe sprain) and Eric Gordon (oral surgery). Boston’s Jrue Holiday was out with a right shoulder injury.

Wednesday’s game was the Sixers’ first of a six-game road trip. Next time they play on Saturday night when they meet the Jazz.

Here are observations of their Christmas win in Boston:

Much improved Christmas for Maxey

After Al Horford knocked down two three-pointers in the first two minutes, Embiid and Maxey each sank long jumpers in response.

With KJ Martin out, Caleb Martin started his first game since Nov. 24, guarding Jaylen Brown. Offensively, he and Kelly Oubre Jr. both peripheral in the first quarter. The Sixers’ star trio of Maxey, Embiid and Paul George combined for 18 of the team’s first 19 field goals.

Maxey ran the show well, attacking the paint without hesitation and posting 12 points and four assists in the first period. He split through the Celtics’ defense early in the second quarter and hit a dunk that put the Sixers up 32-25.

At the time, his outing was already far better than his 4-for-20 performance in the Sixers’ Christmas loss last year to the Heat.

Maxey also maintained his streak of recording at least one steal in every game he has played this season. As a team, the Sixers gained an early advantage in the possession game; Boston committed the first five turnovers of the night, and the Sixers had only one giveaway in the first half.

Small-ball success

Without Drummond, Guerschon Yabusele was a clear choice as the Sixers’ backup center. However, head coach Nick Nurse chose to go for the goal especially when Embiid sat.

The Sixers used a three-guard lineup late in the first and early in the second quarter, playing veteran guards Kyle Lowry and Reggie Jackson with Maxey. Overall, the Sixers’ lack of size in that lineup didn’t hurt them often. Boston kept shooting away from three-point range against both zone and man-to-man defenses and had zero made free throws until the 4:37 mark of the second quarter.

The Sixers were also tough on the defensive boards and excellent across the board offensively. Former Celtic Yabusele scored 10 points in the first half, and Martin added eight in the second quarter, draining two three-pointers and running in off a tip-in. George drained for an uncontested dunk that extended the Sixers’ lead to 52-36.

Tatum helped the Celtics mount a comeback late in the second quarter, but Embiid grabbed several timely jumpers to hold off Boston. He celebrated ostentatiously after sinking a three with 2.2 seconds left in the second period, gesturing to the hostile crowd and appearing to dish out a few words.

Embiid-less excellence

The Celtics went on an inevitable 7-0 run to begin the third quarter. Brown scored two hoops inside, Tatum hit a pull-up three and Martin missed a couple of decent catch-and-shoot looks.

George continued to misfire from deep on an 0-for-7 night from three-point range, and the Sixers’ offense became significantly more isolation-heavy. Brown and the Celtics were also relentless. After a tightly guarded Embiid miss, Brown’s layup gave Boston an 80-76 lead.

Yabusele was again impressive to close out the third quarter, and the Sixers repeated their very strong Embiid-less play from the first half. Incredibly, the Sixers were outscored by 18 points with Embiid on the floor and still beat the defending champions.

Brown missed two free throws and Maxey then scored seven straight points. In a flash, the Sixers had a double-digit lead. Nurse rolled with an eight-man rotation and didn’t have to deviate from it.

Before Wednesday, Martin’s season high for three-pointers in a game was three. He got a friendly layup on his fifth and swished his sixth to extend the Sixers’ advantage to 103-88. Compared to a few weeks ago, he is clearly much less limited by shoulder pain and much more balanced with his shooting mechanics.

The Sixers suddenly shuddered against Boston’s pressure, committed three straight turnovers and saw their lead drop to 108-105 on a quick Horford dunk.

They refocused in time to cement a win, played excellent team defense on several crucial possessions and made their late free throws. Embiid wrapped it up by calmly drilling two foul shots with 2.8 seconds left.