BOSTON — A month ago, the Philadelphia 76ers seemed like a team headed for infamy.
Having come into the season with championship aspirations, the 76ers instead saw 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 attempting to reach the postseason.
But after Wednesday’s 118-114 Christmas Day victory over the defending champion Boston Celtics, Philadelphia has now ripped off wins in eight of its past 11 games, has climbed out of the basement in the Eastern Conference and has renewed the team’s hopes of a deep postseason run.
“We got a high ceiling,” said Joel Embiid, who twisted his ankle when he stepped on a security guard’s foot during warmups but finished with 27 points and 9 rebounds in 31 minutes for Philadelphia (11-17). “It’s all about us putting it together.
“I don’t think that was close to our best basketball, but we got a pretty good chance. So it’s all 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 couple of 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 blood rivals in Boston was just the sixth time this season the team’s three tentpole stars — Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey — all were available for the same game, and they’ve now played a total of 102 minutes together.
Christmas Day, though, became an opportunity for them to show that things could finally be turning around. Since Thanksgiving, albeit against a favorable schedule, Philadelphia is tied for the fourth-best record in the league — behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. That has allowed them to climb to within a 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-to-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 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 be guarding me. I know what shots I’m going to have, and I have to take those 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 listless defensive performance that saw Philadelphia get plenty of open shots throughout, sending the Celtics tumbling to consecutive losses for the first time this season and in three of their past four games.
“I just think we just came out too casual,” Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. “I just think we was walking to our spots. Nobody was sprinting down the floor, just kind of hanging around, just trying to veer back to get the ball instead of just pushing it down the court and just being aggressive. I feel like we just started off the game just 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 was limping some in the first half with left ankle soreness. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla had no update on his condition postgame.
For Philadelphia, the question now is whether this team — after beginning to dig itself out of the massive hole it created to begin the season — can continue stacking up victories. The 76ers, who have yet to win three straight games this season, will make their fourth attempt at doing so when they visit Utah on Saturday, beginning a four-game West Coast trip that will continue on to Portland, Sacramento and Golden State.
But after where things stood a month ago, the 76ers are just glad to be back within touching distance of the playoff picture in the East. They believe finally having some extended time around each other over the past few weeks has played a significant part in turning things around.
“A lot different,” Maxey said, when asked how things feel for the 76ers now compared to a few weeks ago. “A lot different. But I said it back then, just give us some time. It was difficult because guys were in and out and we finally thought that we were going to have everybody playing. I got hurt. That sucks. You know what I mean? I had a little rhythm going a little bit and then I get hurt and then we got to restart, figure it all out. I come back, Joel gets hurt. We got to figure it all out again.
“I think the biggest thing that we’ve really done is we’ve come together a lot more. I feel like we had a lot of new guys. I don’t know how many new people we have, like seven or something like that, and it’s difficult. You don’t know how you want to play. You don’t know what combinations go with each other. I think we’re finally figuring that out.”
