Player Observations Following Sixers' Dominant Win Over Boston

While the Philadelphia 76ers snapped their season-high seven-game win streak on Wednesday night as they took on a loss against the Charlotte Hornets at home,

While the Philadelphia 76ers snapped their season-high seven-game win streak on Wednesday night as they took on a loss against the Charlotte Hornets at home, the team was far from concerned as it was just their first defeat of 2022.

The Sixers acknowledged they beat themselves on Wednesday. So, after getting the day off on Thursday the team returned to the floor refreshed and ready to get things back on the right track on Friday night.

For the third time this season, the Sixers faced the Boston Celtics on Friday night. It was the time the two teams met in South Philly this year. In their previous two outings against each other, the Sixers and the Celtics split their games.

Boston got the best of the Sixers in the first game back in early December and the Sixers got revenge just a couple of weeks later. On Friday night, the Sixers looked to get the upper hand in the regular-season series as they welcomed their rivals to the Wells Fargo Center.

In the first quarter of action, the Sixers got off to an ideal start. Offensively, they racked up the scoring as they knocked down nearly 50-percent of their shots from the field and 40-percent of their threes. In the first 12 minutes of action, Philadelphia fired off 32 points.

Meanwhile, the Celtics didn’t shoot well against Philadelphia’s suffocating defense. Draining just 33-percent of their field goals and going just 2-7 from three, the Celtics scored only 14 points in the first quarter of action.

Boston didn’t play much better offensively in the second quarter. Fortunately for them, the Sixers weren’t as sharp from deep. If that were the case, the game would’ve probably been over by halftime. While the Sixers had a comfortable 20-point lead, they knew they couldn’t take their foot off of the gas.

While the Celtics outscored the Sixers in the third quarter, it wasn’t by much. And by the time the game reached the fourth quarter, the Sixers trailed by as much as 21 points. While the final score didn’t look like the Sixers won in blowout fashion, the game was never close.

With a 111-99 victory, Philadelphia picked up its 24th victory of the season and sent the Celtics home with their 22nd loss. Now, the Sixers will have little downtime before heading down South to face the Miami Heat on Saturday night. 

76ers vs. Celtics Player Observations

How did the Sixers individually perform against the Celtics on Friday night?

Matisse Thybulle

To no surprise, Thybulle was a menace on the defensive end. In 28 minutes of action, he snatched five steals and blocked two shots. He was all over the place on defense and had a decent offensive outing as well. Getting up six shots, Thybulle drained three baskets and knocked down one of his few threes he attempted. He wrapped the night up with eight points before going out with a shoulder injury.

Tobias Harris

As he battles through shoulder tendinitis, Harris made some tough shots on Friday. As he knocked down seven of his 15 attempts, the veteran forward wrapped up the night with 17 points. He’s still struggling from deep as he missed all but one of his six three-point attempts, but Harris had a decent overall performance in a little under 40 minutes of action.

Joel Embiid

For the first time in 11 games, Embiid failed to score more than 30 points. However, he wasn’t too far off as he scored a game-high of 25 points in 32 minutes. If Embiid was truly hunting for points, he probably could’ve kept the streak alive on Friday but the big man turned into a playmaker as he collected six assists. 

Seth Curry

It’s typically a good night for the Sixers when Seth Curry shoots at a high clip from beyond the arc. In 36 minutes of action, Curry nearly put up ten three-pointers. He knocked down 55-percent of his deep shots and finished the night with 17 points, seven assists, one steal, and a blocked shot. His four turnovers were a little out of character, but his shooting definitely made up for his minor mistakes.

Tyrese Maxey

In his first game back since being in the health and safety protocol, Maxey looked rusty. Clearly, he shook the rust off as he was back to his best self against Boston. In 38 minutes, Maxey hit on 50-percent of his shots. He’s not typically one to take a ton of threes, but Maxey took them when they were open and ended up going 5-7 from beyond the arc. He finished the night with 23 points, five assists, and zero turnovers.

Furkan Korkmaz

Lately, Korkmaz has been up and down. Friday’s performance was more on the downside. He didn’t take too many shots, but Korkmaz came up short on all four of his threes. He wrapped up his 27-minute shift with seven points off of eight shots.

Georges Niang

The veteran forward has been quiet lately, and Friday night was no different. In a little under 18 minutes of action, Niang managed to drain just one of his six shots. He came up empty-handed from three. Niang brings the most value from three of the Sixers’ bench so it’s never ideal when he struggles in that department. However, the Sixers are far from worried as he’ll bounce back.

Andre Drummond

The veteran backup center gave the Sixers some quality minutes on Friday night. In a little over 15 minutes of action, Drummond went 4-5 from the field. He wrapped up the game with nine points, eight rebounds, two assists, and one steal.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.