Embiid trolls Celtics after Caleb Martin’s scoring outburst for Sixers originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The ghost of Eastern Conference Finals past haunted the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day.
The Philadelphia 76ers handed the Celtics their second consecutive loss Wednesday at TD Garden thanks in part to a breakout performance from Caleb Martin, who made 7 of 9 3-pointers to finish with a season-high 23 points.
Martin isn’t a historically great 3-point shooter — he entered Wednesday shooting just 30.5 percent from 3-point range and hadn’t made more than three 3-pointers in any of his previous 22 games — but Celtics fans needn’t be reminded of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, when Martin torched the C’s by averaging 19.3 points on 48.9 percent 3-point shooting to help the Miami Heat win the series in seven games.
Sixers big man Joel Embiid apparently is well aware of Martin’s history against Boston and gleefully referenced it after Wednesday’s game when asked about Martin’s hot shooting.
“He’s playing against Boston, so he hates them as much as I do,” Embiid told reporters, including Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “He was great.”
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Embiid has a bit more reason to hate the Celtics than Martin; the Sixers big man is 0-3 in playoff series against his Eastern Conference rival, while Martin went 1-2 with Miami in postseason series versus Boston but has the 2023 ECF as a feather in his cap.
Despite Martin’s track record, however, the Celtics were content to let the veteran forward take open shots while focusing their defensive energies on Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. Martin made them pay, going a perfect 4 for 4 on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as part of an 18-4 run that sunk the C’s.
“That was the game plan,” Celtics wing Jaylen Brown said of Martin’s big night. “So, we just stick to the game plan. We trusted the game plan.
“Martin hit, what, six 3s tonight? Seven 3s? That’s tough. He’s done that before to us in the past, but going into it, we felt comfortable letting him take all those shots. He just knocked them down tonight.”
Martin’s hot shooting wasn’t the only reason Boston lost this game. The Celtics also failed to contain Maxey (a game-high 33 points) and looked a step slow overall on defense while committing 13 turnovers on offense. But the former Heat forward essentially delivered the final blow with a performance that may change how the Celtics defend him when these teams meet again on Feb. 2 in Philly.
Next up for Boston is a home matchup with the Indiana Pacers on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.
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