NBA
Joel Embiid Says 76ers Have a ‘High Ceiling’ After Beating The Celtics
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All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated26 Dec 2024
One thing for sure is, a lot can happen in one month in the NBA. Just some weeks ago, Charles Barkley compared the Sixers to the Titanic, saying “that ship has sunk.” The club was sitting on a frustrating 3-14 on Thanksgiving Day and saw two of their main stars struggle to recover entirely from injury.
Now the Philadelphia team is healthy and just beat the reigning champions with an impressive performance that ended 118-114 in their favor. As the Philly squad have earned eight wins in their past 11 outings, Joel Embiid is convinced that they can reach for the top once again.
“We got a high ceiling,” said the star center, who dropped 27 points and earned 9 rebounds in 31 minutes for Philly. “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.”
Joel Embiid tonight:
27 PTS
9 REB
8/15 FG pic.twitter.com/VVS3BQCMbf— Sixerdaily on IG (@Sixerdaily) December 26, 2024
The 76ers were led by Tyrese Maxey, who posted 33 points and 12 assists on this Christmas Day clash, as he has grown used to carrying his team throughout this season. His squad was perfect from the free-throw line (19-for-19) and got an enormous contribution from Caleb Martin, who always thrives against Boston.
“I know how they’re going to go out and guard me,” said the guard, who went 7-for-9 from threes for 23 points total. “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.”
Even though the Celtics almost rallied back to cut a 14-point deficit in the last minutes, it still wasn’t enough to break the Sixers’ stronghold. The reigning champions tumbled to consecutive losses for the first time this campaign, but falling to defeat for a third time in their last four contests.
“I just think we just came out too casual,” Jaylen Brown said doubt his team’s display. “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.”
