The Philadelphia 76ers continue their recent surge with a victory against their rivals, the Boston Celtics. Despite a rocky start to the season, the team has found its footing and is now looking towards a strong playoff push.
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. 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.
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), said: '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.' 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 -- have all been healthy. 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 Milwaukee Bucks. 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 sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets. 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 P.J. Tucker, 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 Tucker, who was repeatedly left open by Boston throughout the game
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