76ers’ win over Celtics shows Philly’s potential, says Embiid

BOSTON – A month ago, the Philadelphia 76ers seemed like a team headed for infamy.

After entering the season with championship hopes, the 76ers instead found themselves sitting at an unfathomable 3-14 on Thanksgiving Day, with daily questions about whether they would be better off trying to keep their draft pick as opposed to try to reach the postseason.

But after Wednesday’s 118-114 Christmas Day victory over the defending champion Boston Celtics, Philadelphia has now won eight of its last 11 games, climbed out of the Eastern Conference basement and renewed the team’s hopes of a deep postseason run. run.

“We have a high ceiling,” said Joel Embiid, who twisted his ankle stepping on a safety’s foot during warmups but finished with 27 points and 9 rebounds in 31 minutes for Philadelphia (11-17). “It’s about us putting it together.

“I don’t think it was close to our best basketball, but we got a pretty good chance. So it’s about looking for some luck and staying healthy.”

Luck has been in short supply for Embiid and the 76ers. They’ve already seen Paul George hyperextend his left knee twice in the first few months of the season, and Embiid himself is coming off the third facial fracture he’s suffered in his career. Wednesday’s showdown with Philadelphia’s arch-rivals in Boston was just the sixth time this season the team’s three tentpole stars – Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey – were all available for the same game, and they have now played a combined 102 minutes.

However, Christmas Day became an opportunity for them to show that things could finally turn around. Since Thanksgiving, albeit against a favorable schedule, Philadelphia is tied for the fourth-best record in the league — trailing only the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. It has allowed them to climb to within one game of the play-in spots in the Eastern Conference and to within 3.5 games of the Miami Heat for sixth place, the final guaranteed playoff spot.

Against Boston, Philadelphia took care of the ball (13-for-6 edge in turnovers), didn’t miss a free throw (19-for-19), got huge games from both Embiid and Maxey (33 points, 12 assists), and got a massive contribution from Caleb Martin, who returned to his role as the Celtics killer from the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals by going 7-for-9 from 3 for 23 points.

“I know how they’re going to go out and guard me,” said Martin, who was repeatedly left open by Boston throughout the game. “I know who’s going to guard me. I know what shots I’m going to get and I’ve got to take them no matter what.”

And while the Celtics made a furious rally to cut what was once a 14-point Philadelphia lead inside the final minute all the way down to 2 inside the final 10 seconds, it wasn’t enough to overcome a lethargic defensive performance, that saw Philadelphia get plenty of open shots throughout, sending the Celtics to back-to-back losses for the first time this season and in three of their last four games.

“I just think we came out too casual,” Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. “I think we just went to our spots. Nobody was sprinting down the floor, just hanging around, just trying to swing back to get the ball instead of just pushing it down the court and just being aggressive. I feel like we just started the game slow and they took advantage of that.”

Boston was without Jrue Holiday, who was ruled out before the game with a shoulder injury, and Kristaps Porzingis after halftime after he limped through the first half with left ankle soreness. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla had no update on his condition after the game.

For Philadelphia, the question now is whether this team — after starting to dig itself out of the massive hole it created to begin the season — can continue to pile up wins. The 76ers, who have yet to win three straight games this season, will make their fourth attempt to do so when they visit Utah on Saturday, beginning a four-game West Coast road trip that continues to Portland, Sacramento and Golden State.

But after where things stood a month ago, the 76ers are just happy to be back within touching distance of the playoffs in the East. They believe that spending a little more time around each other over the past few weeks has played a significant role in turning things around.

“A lot different,” Maxey said when asked how things feel for the 76ers now compared to a few weeks ago. “Very different. But I said it at the time, just give us some time. It was tough because guys were in and out and we finally thought we wanted everybody to play. I got hurt. It’s a shame. Ved you what I mean I had a little rhythm and then I got hurt and then we had to restart figure it all out I come back Joel gets hurt.

“I think the biggest thing we’ve really done is come together a lot more. I feel like we’ve got a lot of new guys. I don’t know how many new people we have, like like seven or something like that and it’s hard, you don’t know how you want to play.