BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers were in town for a Christmas Day game against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. Unfortunately for the guys in green, they got absolutely blitzed in the first half and, despite a late-game run, were unable to put the broken pieces back together in time to salvage a win.
As a result, the Sixers earned a 118-114 victory over the Celtics on Boston’s home turf. Tyrese Maxey’s speed dominated most of the game, while Joel Embiid’s jumper was hot. But the true dagger was a familiar face—Caleb Martin. The same guy who took down the Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals.
This time, however, he was wearing blue.
This is why Caleb Martin beat the Celtics
Martin absolutely exploded in this one, nailing a career-high seven threes. It’s more than he ever made in a game, including the playoffs, even though it felt like he made more than that in 2023. He also tallied 23 points, which marks his season high.
But Martin wasn’t just getting open by happenstance. It was a part of the Celtics’ game plan. They helped off of him when necessary in order to cover other players, and it resulted in a ton of solid looks for the veteran.
He wasn’t always open, but the Celtics clearly cared more about guarding other players. After the game, Mazzulla gave an explanation for Martin’s big night and the part the Celtics’ played in it.
“I like that you asked that question, because, to answer Gary's question, who do you help off of?” Mazzulla said. “He made big-time shots, but if you want to slow Maxey and Embiid down, you have to bring the game to someone. You have to have good shift activity. I mean, out of the nine threes he shot, I'll go back and look and see which ones were heavily contested. But that's the catch 22. Good teams who are shooting the ball well, they put you in a tough spot. And that's why it's important to take away the tendencies on a guy's right-hand drive.
“Take away the transition, don't turn the ball over, [and] get good shots. So, when you're in the situation where you're not taking care of some of those details, it doesn't make up for the margin for error. And he made shots. So, like I said, I'll have to go back and look. I know there was one where we slipped and fell on a back cut, and he was wide open on that one, but the other ones, I thought, were pretty contested.”
There are a bunch of levels to this response, but the overall answer should frustrate Celtics fans. But they shouldn’t be frustrated with Mazzulla.
In the grand scheme of things, this is the mathematically correct decision to make. And that’s what made the Celtics one of the best teams in basketball—math.
Maxey and Embiid were red-hot all night long, so the Celtics needed to pick and choose their battles. Martin hasn’t been a great three-point shooter this year, so helping off of him and fighting to rotate back in time was the right play.
Martin just made his shots.
That’s why Celtics fans should be frustrated. Because by the books, Boston did what they were supposed to do. But sometimes guys just make shots. And considering Martin’s history on the TD Garden floor, that’s a very frustrating reality to live in.