The Philadelphia 76ers have won eight of their past 11 games after beating the defending champion Boston Celtics 118-114 on Christmas Day.
“We got a high ceiling,” said Joel Embiid. “It’s all about us putting it together.
“I don’t think that was close to our best basketball, but we got a pretty good chance. So it’s all about looking for some luck, and staying healthy.”
Embiid had 27 points and nine rebounds in 31 minutes.
The Sixers believe an extended period together of their key players has contributed to their surge.
“A lot different,” Tyrese Maxey said, when asked how things feel for the 76ers now compared to a few weeks ago. “A lot different. But I said it back then, just give us some time. It was difficult because guys were in and out and we finally thought that we were going to have everybody playing. I got hurt. That sucks. You know what I mean? I had a little rhythm going a little bit and then I get hurt and then we got to restart, figure it all out. I come back, Joel gets hurt. We got to figure it all out again.
“I think the biggest thing that we’ve really done is we’ve come together a lot more. I feel like we had a lot of new guys. I don’t know how many new people we have, like seven or something like that, and it’s difficult. You don’t know how you want to play. You don’t know what combinations go with each other. I think we’re finally figuring that out.”