Sixers get a Christmas taste of good luck and show what they can do against Celtics

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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…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/sixers-christmas-taste-good-luck-130219731.html

Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2024-12-26 13:02:00

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