3 observations after Sixers earn spectacular Christmas victory over Celtics initially appeared on NBC Sports activities Philadelphia
BOSTON — The Sixers’ season reached a crystal-clear excessive level on Christmas.
The crew visited TD Backyard on the vacation and got here away with a formidable 118-114 win over the Celtics.
Tyrese Maxey had 33 factors, 12 assists and three steals. Joel Embiid recorded 27 factors and 9 rebounds.
Caleb Martin scored his most factors but as a Sixer, notching 23 and making a career-high seven three-pointers.
Jayson Tatum tallied 32 factors and 15 rebounds for the Celtics, who fell to 22-8.
The 11-17 Sixers had been with out 4 gamers in Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgical procedure), KJ Martin (left foot stress response), Andre Drummond (left toe sprain) and Eric Gordon (oral surgical procedure). Boston’s Jrue Vacation was out with a proper shoulder damage.
Wednesday’s sport was the Sixers’ first of a six-game highway journey. They’ll subsequent play Saturday night time once they face the Jazz.
Listed below are observations on their Christmas victory in Boston:
A lot-improved Christmas for Maxey
After Al Horford knocked down two three-pointers within the opening two minutes, Embiid and Maxey every sunk long-range jumpers in response.
With KJ Martin out, Caleb Martin began his first sport since Nov. 24 and guarded Jaylen Brown. Offensively, he and Kelly Oubre Jr. had been each peripheral within the first quarter. The Sixers’ star trio of Maxey, Embiid and Paul George mixed to take 18 of the crew’s first 19 discipline objectives.
Maxey ran the present nicely, attacking the paint with out hesitation and posting 12 factors and 4 assists within the first interval. He cut up by the Celtics’ protection early within the second quarter and slammed dwelling a dunk that put the Sixers up 32-25.
At that stage, his outing was already much better than his 4-for-20 efficiency within the Sixers’ Christmas loss final 12 months to the Warmth.
Maxey additionally maintained his streak of recording at the least one steal in each sport he’s performed this season. As a crew, the Sixers earned an early benefit within the possession sport; Boston dedicated the night time’s first 5 turnovers and the Sixers had only one first-half giveaway.
Small-ball success
With out Drummond, Guerschon Yabusele was a transparent selection because the Sixers’ backup heart. Nonetheless, head coach Nick Nurse opted to go particularly small when Embiid sat.
The Sixers used a three-guard lineup late within the first and early within the second quarter, taking part in veteran guards Kyle Lowry and Reggie Jackson with Maxey. General, the Sixers’ lack of dimension in that lineup didn’t harm them typically. Boston saved firing away from three-point vary towards each zone and man-to-man protection and had zero made free throws till the 4:37 mark of the second quarter.
The Sixers had been additionally scrappy on the defensive boards and glorious throughout the board offensively. Former Celtic Yabusele scored 10 first-half factors and Martin added eight within the second quarter, draining two three-pointers and swooping in for a tip-in. George leaked out for an uncontested dunk that stretched the Sixers’ result in 52-36.
Tatum helped the Celtics surge again late within the second quarter, however Embiid nailed a number of well timed jumpers to carry Boston off. He celebrated demonstratively after sinking a 3 with 2.2 seconds left within the second interval, gesturing towards the hostile crowd and showing to dish a number of phrases again.
Embiid-less excellence
The Celtics made an inevitable-feeling 7-0 run to start the third quarter. Brown scored two hoops inside, Tatum hit a pull-up three and Martin missed a few first rate catch-and-shoot appears.
George continued to misfire from deep on an 0-for-7 night time from three-point vary, and the Sixers’ offense grew considerably extra isolation-heavy. Brown and the Celtics had been relentless, too. Following a tightly guarded Embiid miss, Brown’s layup gave Boston an 80-76 lead.
Yabusele was spectacular once more to shut the third quarter and the Sixers replicated their very sturdy Embiid-less play from the primary half. Extremely, the Sixers received outscored by 18 factors with Embiid on the ground and nonetheless beat the defending champions.
Brown missed two free throws and Maxey then poured in seven straight factors. In a flash, the Sixers had a double-digit lead. Nurse rolled with an eight-man rotation and did not must deviate from that.
Earlier than Wednesday, Martin’s season excessive for three-pointers in a sport was three. He received a pleasant vacation financial institution on his fifth and swished his sixth to increase the Sixers’ benefit to 103-88. In contrast to a couple weeks in the past, he is clearly a lot much less restricted by shoulder ache and rather more balanced together with his taking pictures mechanics.
The Sixers abruptly turned shaky towards Boston’s stress, committing three turnovers in a row and seeing their lead dip to 108-105 on a fast-break Horford dunk.
They refocused in time to cement a victory, taking part in stellar crew protection on a number of essential possessions and making their late free throws. Embiid wrapped it up by calmly drilling two foul pictures with 2.8 seconds left.
