– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
BOSTON — Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey wore his regrettable maiden Christmas Day game last year for 365 days, and got his redemption today. The man who made Maxey’s holiday on the court miserable in 2023 was also instrumental in bringing the Sixers a load of Christmas cheer — and the most notable glimpse of hope that a turnaround for Philadelphia’s disappointing season is well and truly underway.
Maxey scored 33 points while handing out 12 assists, leading the 76ers to a 118-114 victory over the Boston Celtics inside TD Garden in a Christmas Day showdown of traditional Eastern Conference powers. Joel Embiid had 27 points and nine rebounds, while Caleb Martin had 23 points, including making seven three-pointers.
Though the Sixers have been regulars on Christmas Day, playing 35 times on the holiday, today was just Maxey’s second, with his first resulting in a 12-point performance where he shot just 4-for-20 from the field in a loss to the Miami Heat. Martin, a member of the Heat last season, was responsible for guarding Maxey for most of that game.
Today, the duo teamed up to carry the 76ers in the fourth quarter to turn an 82-82 tie into a double-digit lead. After Jaylen Brown scored to give the Celtics an 84-82 lead, the Sixers went on a 12-0 run, with Martin starting the scoring binge with a three to give Philadelphia the lead back and Maxey scoring the final seven points of the run for a 94-84 advantage.
Maxey scored 13 of his 33 points in the fourth, while Martin made all four of his threes he attempted in the frame. Their production allowed Sixers head coach Nick Nurse to keep both Embiid and Paul George, who had 12 points, sitting on the bench for the first 7:13 of the fourth.
Jayson Tatum scored 32 and grabbed 15 rebounds for Boston, while Brown scored 23 and Derrick White had 21. The Celtics, along with wearing their green jerseys, wore red socks and leggings befitting of the Christmas holiday.
Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, who has played just nine games this season due to offseason ankle surgery and suffering a couple of other leg injuries during the season, did not return for the second half after rolling his left ankle while stepping on Embiid on an attempt to drive to the basket. The team said he had an ankle injury.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 43 pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
