Celtics’ Joel Embiid plan didn’t just work—it proved this team’s edge is real

The Boston Celtics put Xavier Tillman on Joel Embiid to close out a win over the Philadelphia 76ers, but that was merely one example of a much larger mindset.

Xavier Tillman, Joe Mazzulla, and Joel Embiid | Adam Glanzman/GettyImages | Maddie Meyer/GettyImages | Isaiah Vazquez/GettyImagesPHILADELPHIA — With 8:15 to go in the fourth quarter on Friday night, Philadelphia 76ers big man Adem Bona soared through the air, rejecting Anfernee Simons at the apex of his leap. As their two bodies went crashing to the floor, Xfinity Mobile Arena erupted. The world had collapsed around the Boston Celtics.

What was once a 24-point first-half lead had evaporated. As the latter half of the second quarter…