Drummond, Niang Praise Joel Embiid on Twitter as Sixers Beat Celtics

The Philadelphia 76ers have been dealt a lousy hand lately in terms of health. Just as the team started to get healthier, their injury report started getting

The Philadelphia 76ers have been dealt a lousy hand lately in terms of health. Just as the team started to get healthier, their injury report started getting crowded once again as COVID-19, injuries, and other illnesses caused a handful of players to sit out.

On Sunday, the Sixers were supposed to face the New Orleans Pelicans at home. Unfortunately, the NBA feared the Sixers wouldn't be able to meet the league's required eight-man minimum of players available. Therefore, the Sixers-Pelicans rematch will be postponed to a later date.

Although the Sixers couldn't play in Sunday's game, the league remained optimistic about the chances of the 76ers getting enough reinforcements in time for their Monday night matchup against the Boston Celtics.

By recalling three members of the Blue Coats, the Sixers managed to get a few reserves to Boston. And while Tyrese Maxey wasn't able to play after being listed as questionable, both Joel Embiid and Danny Green were cleared for action as they were 50/50 shots to play on Monday.

Embiid Showed Out

Embiid's been battling ankle soreness since last Wednesday's outing against the Miami Heat. While he rolled his ankle in the second half of that matchup, the Sixers' big man continued to battle through it to finish the game.

The following night, Embiid was on the floor once again to help the Sixers take on the Brooklyn Nets. Whether he would've played in Sunday night's game against New Orleans or not is unclear, but Embiid was given the green light to go against Philadelphia's Atlantic Division rival, the Boston Celtics, on Monday.

Several players on the Sixers' end showed out and contributed to the big win on Monday night. But nobody on the floor played better than Joel Embiid. As he knew his Sixers were short-staffed, last year's MVP runner-up did everything in his power to put his team on his back. And his absent teammates were at home tweeting about the action as Embiid was unstoppable in crunch time. 

ALL HAIL THE EMVPIID. pic.twitter.com/NP9D5mjmtO

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 21, 2021

Niang, Drummond React

JOEL EMBIDDDDDDDDDDDDD! @sixers

— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) December 21, 2021

WE ARE ALL WITNESSES TO THE MFN PROCESSS!!!!!!!!

— Georges Niang (@GeorgesNiang20) December 21, 2021

Embiid clearly felt the urgency to go above and beyond for his team on Monday night. As the Sixers were one loss away from taking on a losing record for the first time this season, Embiid did everything in his power to avoid going there. 

Overall, Embiid dropped 41 points in 40 minutes of action in Boston. He also collected ten rebounds, five assists, two steals, and blocked four shots. Across the board, Embiid was a beast, but his fourth-quarter performance was arguably his best of the year for the big man.

As he checked in for a little less than ten minutes, Embiid put up seven shots from the field, four of which went in. Although he went 0-2 from beyond the arc, Embiid paid five visits to the free-throw line and made all but one of his shots. He scored 17 points in the fourth quarter alone and willed the Sixers to a 108-103 win, picking up their 16th victory of the season.

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