Sixers get a Christmas taste of good luck and show what they can do against Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
BOSTON — About 45 minutes before their Christmas game at TD Garden, luck again did not appear to be smiling upon the Sixers.
Taking his usual pregame jumpers, a masked Joel Embiid made a fadeaway three-pointer and drifted back toward the sideline. He toppled onto a rope cordoning off the court and the security guard just behind it, tumbling to the floor. The superstar center grabbed at his right ankle.
This time, Embiid and the Sixers did not live out the worst-case scenario.
After scoring 27 points in his team’s 118-114 win over the Celtics, Embiid said he “just twisted my ankle.”
“Just a little sore,” he said, “but it’s Christmas. Got to play on Christmas.”
The 11-17 Sixers weren’t left ruing unfortunate bounces and missed wide-open jumpers and mystifying calls Wednesday night at TD Garden. Caleb Martin set a new career high with seven three-pointers … including a line-drive bank shot in the fourth quarter that he surely did not intend.
As Embiid knows, Martin enjoyed facing the Celtics during his days with the Heat.
“He’s playing against Boston,” Embiid said. “He hates them as much as I do. I guess I’ll take it.
“Nah, but he was great. I like when he’s not thinking. Tonight, he was just not thinking about it every time he had the ball, shoot or drive. Obviously, he made his shots. We need him to keep doing that and building that confidence.”
Prior to Embiid’s surreal pregame injury scare, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse was asked about the Murphy’s Law, rotten luck as a daily companion start to this season.
“There’s probably nothing I’ve experienced like that before,” he said. “It was not a lot of fun, that’s for sure. You’re kind of thrown a lot of curveballs and you’re swinging and missing a lot, but you’ve got to hang in there. We’ve tried to do that and just work really hard, coach really hard and prepare really well, and fight through it. That’s it.”
Perhaps it’s somewhat safe to speak in the past tense now.
While the Sixers were shorthanded in Boston — Jared McCain, KJ Martin, Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon were all out with injuries — they outplayed the 22-8 Celtics for the majority of the game. (Boston’s Jrue Holiday was sidelined by a right shoulder injury and Kristaps Porzingis exited early with left ankle soreness.)
In a stark reverse to the typical trend, the Sixers crushed the Celtics with Embiid out. Ultra-small lineups with guards Tyrese Maxey, Kyle Lowry and Reggie Jackson thrived and the Sixers overcame being a minus-18 when Embiid was on the court. Backup center Guerschon Yabusele scored 12 points and was excellent against the team that drafted him back in 2016.
“I think it’s just kind of what we have left right now; Drum and KJ are out. … They did a heck of a job,” Nurse said. “We went to zone right away both times (Lowry and Jackson) checked in and got a couple stops out of that, but that was just enough kind of buying time.
“And I thought those guys all battled. Kyle had a hell of a game, just battling and (being) physical and rebounding, and just organizing the team at the offensive end.”
Maxey was brilliant as the Sixers’ lead guard in a 33-point, 12-assist, three-steal night.
He said in the visiting locker room that he “had to redeem” himself after he “stunk it up” last Christmas in Miami. A few feet to his right, Embiid enthusiastically agreed.
“You were like the worst player in the NBA that game,” Embiid said as part of the banter between the stars.
Both Embiid and Maxey were flawless at the foul line Wednesday and the Sixers had their first perfect free throw game of the season, going 19 for 19.
Until the tail end of the evening, they were also exceptional at avoiding turnovers. The Sixers committed a season-low six giveaways, four of which came in the final 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
“I think two things showed up tonight that we had consistently last year: Low turnovers and great free throw shooting, which we haven’t had much this year,” Nurse said. “Those are two really, really important things. Again, I think our guys just are organized now.
“They did a really good job of helping each other figure out exactly what we were trying to do on offense and where the spacing was. We just got a little haywire there in a couple of weird scenarios, but we can shore that up too, I think. Just much better organization.”
Of course, the Sixers didn’t have a dream night on all fronts.
Jayson Tatum (32 points) and Jaylen Brown (23 points) guided the Celtics to the lead late in the third quarter, erasing a 16-point deficit. Paul George made no second-half field goals and his shooting slump continued. He’s 29.1 percent from the field and 16 percent from three-point range across his last four games.
None of it stung and the borderline standard freak incident didn’t have catastrophic consequences.
“I think we’ve got a high ceiling,” Embiid said. “It’s all about us pulling it together. I don’t think we played our best basketball, but Tyrese was great. I could’ve been better, PG could’ve been better, and we will be better. … Caleb gave us a good boost.
“The bench was great, but I don’t think that was our best basketball. But we’ve got a pretty good chance, so it’s all about waiting for some luck and staying healthy.”
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