PHILADELPHIA — The Boston Celtics had a lot to do with the 76ers’ facelift.
The Celtics sweeping them in the first round of last season’s playoffs led to several drastic offseason changes. The Sixers have a new coaching staff, hired Daryl Morey and other front-office personnel, and added new complimentary pieces for Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris.
So some could consider Wednesday’s contest was sort of a barometer game to see how the new-look Sixers matched up against Boston. Just sort of. Both teams were without a key starter — Seth Curry (Sixers) and Jayson Tatum (Celtics) — due to post-health-and-safety-protocols reconditioning.
Yet, the Sixers still prevailed, 117-109, in the first contest of a two-game series. The squads will meet again 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wells Fargo Center.
They closed the game with a 6-0 run after the Boston pulled within 111-109 with 1 minute, 40 seconds remaining.
Embiid scored 42 or more points for the second time in three games.
On this night, the three-time All-Star center had 42 to go with 10 rebounds. He made 12 of 19 shots and went 17 for 21 from the foul line. Embiid had 45 points on Jan. 12 against the Miami Heat.
Harris added 22 points, and Danny Green had 12 on 4-for-8 shooting — all 3-point attempts. Shake Milton had 16 points in a reserve role. Simmons finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.
Jaylen Brown paced the Celtics (8-5) with 26 points, while Marcus Smart added 25 and Kemba Walker had 19.
The Sixers (10-6) moved into first place in Eastern Conference with this victory. Boston dropped to second place.
While it still early, the Sixers looked much better than the squad that finished the 2019-20 season.
Back then, the Sixers were in a world of flux.
That became evident after they were swept by the Celtics in the best-of-seven first-round playoff series. The Celtics capped the sweep with a 110-106 Game 4 victory on Aug. 24. The loss marked the first time the Sixers have been swept in the first round since 1989 and the third time in their history.
The next day, the team parted ways with coach Brett Brown. On Oct. 1, he was replaced by Doc Rivers, who brought in a new coaching staff. Fifteen days later, they hired Peter Dinwiddie as the executive VP of basketball operations, and Prosper Karangwa as the VP of player personnel. And the team hired Morey on Oct. 28 to run the basketball operations.
Then on Nov. 18, the night of the draft, the Sixers traded the 36th pick and Josh Richardson to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Curry. They added Dwight Howard in free agency three days later. And officially concluded the facelift on Dec. 8 by acquiring Green, Terrance Ferguson, and Vincent Poirier from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Al Horford, a protected 2025 first-round pick, Theo Maledon (the 34th pick in the draft) and the rights to Vasilije Micic.
On Wednesday, the Celtics took a 61-58 cushion into intermission. Boston shot 50% from the field, including making 9 of 18 3-pointers.
Walker, in his second game back from left knee injury, made 5 of 6 3-pointers en route to 17 first-half points. Brown had 12.
Before the game, Green addressed the people in the arena about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in remembrance of MLK Day, which was Monday.
“It’s crucial now more than ever that we honor his message of love, acceptance, and hope,” Green said. “And that we live up to the legacy by leaving hate in the past, and living up to his words.”
