Caleb Martin picked the right night to produce a season-high 23 points, including seven three-pointers, as Philadelphia earned a hard-fought road win on Christmas Day against the defending champion Boston Celtics. Given their injury woes this term, it’s a step in the right direction if able to get more consistent production from their supplementary pieces, like the 29-year-old.
Cody comes up clutch, but 76ers need more from others
PHILADELPHIA haven’t had much to savour during an exhausting regular season, though a smash-and-grab victory on away soil against the defending champion Boston Celtics would’ve felt sweet during the league’s five-game Christmas Day slate.
One of their offseason acquisitions, six-year small forward Caleb Martin produced a season-high 23-point showing, complete with three rebounds, two assists and a steal as a familiar foe frustrated Boston after his three-year stint in Miami.
Tyrese Maxey, who has continued leading by example in the absence of their two established stars Joel Embiid and Paul George through respective injuries, made sure to point out Martin’s influence during their combined postgame flash interview.
“We played as a team, played hard with a really good gameplan, the Undertaker came to play today! We’re taking it day-by-day, had to fight our tails off to get to where we wanna be, the way we’ve been stepping in the right direction the last few weeks has been special, everyone knows their role now and it was always gonna be difficult, we had seven or eight new guys. Last time he [Caleb] was on the other team, this time he’s on mine!”
Martin echoed that sentiment, albeit with a little more of a measured approach when asked about the win and his individual performance. He said: “It was big from everybody, we had a few guys out today and I just started catching rhythm at the right time. We understand that we put ourselves in a hole, that’s to be expected when you’ve got a lot of guys on a new team… just figuring out camradrie and chemistry, making the right strides.”
They went with an eight-man lineup, another offseason acquisition in forgotten former Celtic forward Guerschon Yabusele enjoying the most productive minutes off the bench while George and Kellly Oubre Jr struggled to get going offensively.
Martin went back down to earth with a five-point, six-rebound outing yesterday away against the Utah Jazz, but it has been abundantly clear that All-Star guard Maxey needs more help – whether the Embiid-George tandem are healthy or not.
29-year-old Martin has posted double-digit scoring nights in seven of their opening 11 contests and was viewed as a savvy acquisition after his Miami stint, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed among rival ball clubs as the trade deadline nears.
The 114-111 road victory means the Sixers now sit five games below .500 at the time of writing – hardly impressive – though there is room to grow as they hope to now embark on a run with consistent health and momentum propelling them.
On the Embiid-shaped issue they’re currently navigating, the 2022-23 regular season MVP has only featured in 10 of 25 contests to date, while George – who agreed a four-year, max $211m extension this past summer – has already missed 10 games while looking less than his best on a series of occasions when he has played.
As currently constructed, this 76ers team isn’t good enough to challenge the elite. Whether they blow it up and start again under this current setup remains to be seen, though GM Daryl Morey and co can’t be content with how things are going.
Picture source: Getty Images, player quotes via ABC
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