Joel Embiid Says 76ers Have 'High Ceiling' After Christmas Win over Celtics

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid thought his team's 118-114 victory over the Boston Celtics was a demonstration of its strength when it's close to firing on all cylinders.

"I think we got a high ceiling. It's all about us pulling it together," he told reporters after the game. "I don't think we played our best basketball, but Tyrese was great. I could've been better. PG could've been better and we will be better and then our bench was—Caleb gave us a good boost. The bench was great, but I don't think that was our best basketball, but we got a pretty good chance so it's all about waiting for some luck and staying healthy."

The Sixers might take a lot of encouragement from the fact they beat the reigning champions on the road despite their Big Three of Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey not going above and beyond collectively.

Maxey was excellent, dropping a game-high 33 points along with 12 assists. Embiid's output (27 point, nine rebounds and two assists) was good but not exceptional by his usual standards. George, meanwhile, shot 4-of-15 for 12 points while adding four rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block.

This was the three-star formula working as intended. When you have a trio as good as Embiid, George and Maxey, you can beat really good teams with only two of the three delivering offensively.

And it obviously helps when a supporting player steps up, as Caleb Martin did by shooting 7-of-9 from beyond the arc. But that's also why Philadelphia signed Martin in the first place.

Of course, Sixers fans got a reminder of how quickly the bottom can fall out.

Embiid's status for Wednesday's game was briefly in doubt after he appeared to trip over the security rope around the court during warmups. It would be just Philly's luck to start building positive momentum before Embiid or George is sidelined for an extended period again.

For now, the state of the 76ers is a far cry from the panic that was generated amid a 3-14 start.