BOSTON — A month ago, the Philadelphia 76ers looked like a team with a bad reputation.
The 76ers went into the season aiming for a championship, but ended up with an unbelievable record of 3 wins and 14 losses on Thanksgiving Day, leading some to think it would be better to keep their draft picks than aim for a spot in the postseason. I had doubts every day.
But after a 118-114 win over the defending champion Boston Celtics on Christmas Day Wednesday, Philadelphia has won eight of its past 11 games, climbing out of the Eastern Conference basement and into the postseason. This renewed the team’s hopes of advancing to the top. run.
“The ceiling was high,” Joel Embiid said. Despite twisting his ankle when he stepped on a security guard’s foot during warmups, he finished with 27 points and nine rebounds in 31 minutes for Philadelphia (11-17). “It all depends on us putting it together.
“I don’t think I played my best basketball, but I had a pretty good chance. So it’s just a matter of trying to get lucky and staying healthy.”
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Luck is lacking for Embiid and the 76ers. We’ve already seen Paul George hyperextend his left knee twice in the first few months of the season, and Embiid is coming back from the third facial fracture of his career. Wednesday’s matchup with Boston will be the sixth time this season that the team’s three biggest stars – Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey – will appear in the same game, playing a total of 102 minutes together.
But Christmas Day was an opportunity for them to show that things are finally looking up. Despite a good schedule since Thanksgiving, Philadelphia has been tied for fourth in the league behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. This moved them within one game of a play-in spot in the Eastern Conference and within three and a half games of the Miami Heat for sixth place, which would ultimately clinch a playoff spot.
Against Boston, Philadelphia controlled the ball (13-6 advantage in turnovers), didn’t miss free throws (19-of-19), and got big games from both Embiid and Maxey ( (33 points, 12 assists). Significant contributions from Caleb Martin. He returned to his role as the Celtics’ killer in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, going 3-for-9 with 23 points.
“I know how they’re going to guard me,” said Martin, who was left open many times by Boston. “I know who’s going to protect me. I know what kind of shots they’re going to take, and I have to take them no matter what.”
And while the Celtics rallied furiously and cut Philadelphia’s 14-point lead in the final minute to two with 10 seconds left, it wasn’t enough to overcome a sluggish defensive performance and the 76ers was hit with many open shots throughout the game. This caused the Celtics to lose for the first time this season and in three of their past four games.
“I think it was too casual,” Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. “I just think we were walking to our positions. Nobody was sprinting down the floor, just hanging out, just pushing the ball into the court and being aggressive, just getting behind us. We were just trying to get the ball out of the way. That’s what we felt like.”The game started off slow, but they took advantage of it. ”
Boston was without Jrue Holiday, who was out before the game with a shoulder injury, and Kristaps Porzingis, who limped off in the first half with a sore left ankle, after halftime. Celtics manager Joe Mazzula has not provided any updates since then.
The question now for Philadelphia is whether this team can continue to rack up wins after starting to dig itself out of the gaping hole it created early in the season. The 76ers, who have yet to win three straight this season, will look for their fourth win when they visit Utah on Saturday to begin a four-game series on the West Coast that continues in Portland, Sacramento and Golden State.
But after what happened a month ago, the 76ers are just happy to be back in the playoff picture. They believe that they were finally able to spend a lot of time with each other and played a key role in turning things around.
“It’s a lot different,” Maxey said when asked how he feels about the 76ers’ situation now compared to a few weeks ago. “It’s very different. But at the time I said, give us some time. It was tough with players coming in and out, and I thought we were finally going to have all of us playing. We got hurt. It sucks. You understand. I mean, we kind of got into a good rhythm, and then I got injured, and then we started over, I come back, Joel has to get injured again.
“I think the biggest thing we’ve really accomplished is that we’ve come together more. I feel like we’ve had a lot of new guys. I don’t know how many new guys we have, maybe seven? “It’s difficult, but I don’t know how I want to play.” I think we’ve finally figured it out. ”
