Boston, MA - The Boston Celtics held on to a narrow victory on Wednesday night as they defeated their Atlantic Division-rival Philadelphia 76ers, 88-87. The victory hands the Celtics their second straight win as they look towards a five-game road trip. For the Sixers, the loss marks continued struggles as they go 3-9 of their last 12 games.

The Celtics now stand at 12-10, and jump to No. 9 in the Eastern Conference, while the Sixers fall to 11-11 and No. 11 in the Conference, just out of playoff range.

Early Offensive Struggles

Both teams struggled on offense early as neither team was able to sniff 50% from the field. As the two sides entered the locker room at the half, the Celtics had shot 18 of 40 from the field, while the Sixers had shot a measly 16 of 46.

For the Celtics, those numbers wouldn't improve much. They shot 8 of 20 in the third quarter and 7 of 19 in the fourth. However, the Sixers saw continuous improvement, shooting 9 of 24 in the third quarter and 8 of 19 in the fourth. However, Philadelphia's improvement still wasn't enough to correct their early mistakes and couldn't bring them a win.

Defensive standoff

On the other side of the court, both sides held strong on defense. Boston earned themselves a total of 9 blocks against Philadelphia's offense, well above their season average of 5.9 per game. Meanwhile, the Sixers brought down 46 rebounds (38 on defense), while also recording 9 blocks.

Celtics' Center Al Horford showed out in a strong performance for Boston with 5 of their blocks 9 blocks along with 7 defensive rebounds. For the Sixers, center Joel Embiid stood out with a solid 3 blocks and a whopping 14 defensive rebounds, leading both teams in that category.

Joel Embiid still not 100%

Despite Embiid's strong performance, he still demonstrated that he isn't back to full strength after missing nine games due to a COVID-19 diagnosis. Philadelphia sorely missed Embiid, going 2-7 in the span that he was out. However, Embiid's lack of quality play since his return hasn't brought Philly back to full strength; they're just 1-2 since his return.

Averaging 22.8 PPG coming into Wednesday night's matchup, Embiid started slow, shooting 0- 7 from the field in the first quarter. It took the Sixers' center 22 minutes to score any points outside of the free-throw line, and while he improved from there, it wasn't enough. Embiid finished with just 13 points, shooting 3-17 from the field and 6-10 from the free-throw line. While Embiid looked good on defense, the Sixers will need more out of their big man on offense to keep their playoff hopes running.

Tatum's slow start turns into a late-game push

Boston's leader in points per game, Jayson Tatum, looked like he might be completely absent against the Sixers early on as he struggled to find his rhythm. Early in the second quarter, Tatum saw himself walk down court shooting 14.3% from the field. However, Tatum's next shot would put him at 2 of 8 from the field, and he didn't look back.

Tatum, who had scored 24.3 PPG going into Wednesday's game, finished with 26 points as the highest scorer for either team. He also grabbed 16 rebounds and dealt 2 assists as he pushed his Celtics over the edge.

Shake Milton's early game heroics

For the Sixers, Shake Milton looked to be an early candidate for the hero of the game. With Embiid struggling on offense, Milton took matters into his own hands, shooting each of his first five shots from the field and scoring 13 points. However, after the buzzer sounded after the first twelve minutes of play, Milton slowed down, finishing the game with 16 points, going 6 of 11 from the field.

Horford gets the Celtics started, cools off after first quarter

Likewise for Boston, Al Horford started off a flashy run to start the game. The Celtics went 6 of 7 from the field to start, building a 13-4 lead before Sixers' head coach Doc Rivers called his first timeout. Of those points, Horford accounted for 7, shooting a perfect 3 of 3 from the field early on.

However, like Milton, Horford calmed down significantly, shooting 4 of 6 from the field and scoring 10 points at the end of the game.

Looking ahead

The Celtics will have a difficult road trip coming up. After returning from two road games in San Antonio and Toronto, Boston will look forward to the Utah Jazz on Friday, December 3 at 9:00 pm EST to start off a series of five straight road games.

The Sixers will stay on the road for their next three, looking towards the Atlanta Hawks Friday at 7:30 EST, as Philadelphia looks for revenge after Atlanta ended their season in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.