Tyrese Maxey gave the Celtics more than they could handle in a Christmas Day showdown on Wednesday, as the 76ers earned a signature 118-114 win at the expense of their defending champion rivals.
Here are the takeaways.
The Celtics’ defense was awful.
The Celtics’ defense has not been nearly as good as last year through Christmas, and that trend continued on a huge stage Wednesday.
We saw glimpses of the Celtics’ ceiling. Their first steal of the game came with just under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but the defense kicked up at times as they rallied back from two double-digit deficits – one each in the third quarter and late in the fourth.