Embiid bullies Celtics for 42 in win

It always feels good to beat the Celtics.

The Sixers handed Boston a 117-109 defeat at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night in the first matchup of the season between the bitter rivals. The victory improved Philadelphia to 10-5 on the year.

The Sixers seemed rejuvenated after having an unexpected break in action—their Sunday night game against Oklahoma City was postponed when COVID-19 health and safety protocols determined they would be without the minimum eight players required to play. It was the Sixers first postponement. They last played on Saturday, making the three full days off their longest gap between games of the year so far. The condensed nature of the 72-game season has teams playing virtually every other day, if not back-to-back.

One key member of the Sixers enjoyed an even longer break.

Joel Embiid returned after missing the Sixers’ last game to receive treatment for knee soreness, and Boston’s big men stood no chance. The 280-lb center poured in 42 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He made only one of his five 3-point attempts, but he thrashed the Celtics’ interior, fighting his way to the free throw line 21 times, where he made 17.

It was far from a solo effort. Tobias Harris continued his strong play, scoring 22 points on 9 of 17 shooting. He also moved the ball well, handing out 5 assists. Danny Green drained four of his 8 attempts from deep for his 12 points. Ben Simmons added 11 points and finished with 8 rebounds and assists apiece. Shake Milton contributed 16 off the bench, and Matisse Thybulle, though scoreless, racked up 4 steals and one block in 21 minutes.

The game had a playoff vibe. The Sixers actually didn’t shoot the ball particularly great, a ho-hum 46.2% from the field overall and 33.3% from three, but that suited them just fine. Perhaps the best sign was the control the team played with—after coughing the ball up 22 times in their previous game, the Sixers only turned it over 9 times against Boston.

That didn’t make things easy, though. Boston came to play despite missing ascending superstar wing Jayson Tatum due to health and safety protocols. Kemba Walker, appearing in just his second game after missing 11 straight with knee issues to begin the year, scored 19 points. He wasn’t efficient overall in hitting 6-of-15 from the floor, but he buried 5 of his 9 threes. Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown continued to torture the Sixers, combining for 51 points. Despite being overmatched down low, Daniel Theis still managed a double-double in 27 minutes, scoring 23 points and hauling in 10 boards. He misfired on only one of his 11 field goal attempts.

The Sixers actually started slowly. Just over 3 minutes into the game, they found themselves trailing 12-4 after surrendering four early 3-pointers. Harris kept them in it, scoring 9 of Philadelphia’s first 11, including a personal 7-0 run to bring the score within a point. Along with Embiid, the frontcourt duo combined for 23 first quarter points, and after the early 8-point deficit, the Sixers outscored the Celtics 28-13 to end the frame on top 32-25.

After a Shake Milton floater crept the advantage to eight, Boston responded with an 11-3 run to knot things at 40—one of 13 ties in the game. They continued to surge, pulling ahead by six before settling into a 61-58 lead at halftime.

The first half of the third quarter was a veritable tug-of-war, with neither team ahead by more than four points. A late 9-0 spurt put the Celtics ahead 88-79 before Embiid and Furkan Korkmaz completed back-to-back and-1s. Korkmaz earned his in style, with an emphatic reverse slam off a feed from Simmons. It was nice to see the fourth-year guard make such an athletic play after missing the previous 11 games with injury. Still, Boston held a 92-86 lead after three.

But Philadelphia weathered the storm. The Sixers put on a defensive clinic in the fourth quarter, limiting the Celtics to just 17 points on 36.4% shooting, including 1-for-11 from beyond the arc. They also forced six turnovers. Over the final four minutes, the Sixers outscored Boston 12-4, a mirror image of the opening few minutes of the game.

The Sixers can really make a statement on Friday night when they host these same Celtics at 7:30p.m. and an opportunity to sweep the mini-series. There is a good chance they will welcome back a big piece to the starting lineup as guard Seth Curry is expected to be available. Before contracting COVID-19 and missing seven games, the 30-year-old was having a career year, averaging 17.0 points on a stellar 60.3/59.5/100.0 shooting slash.