Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
BOSTON – So … who are the Celtics?
Officially, Boston is 17-7, second in its division, fourth in the conference. A chance to climb those standings fell by the wayside on Thursday, when a Joel Embiid-fueled Sixers team muscled out a 117-109 win. Embiid, physically overwhelming against most teams, looked cartoonishly big against Boston, bullying a Celtics team that, Brad Stevens admits, doesn’t “have a lot of guys with that old school center strength.”
More than a quarter of the way through the season, and with the calendar inching towards Christmas, the true contenders are starting to crystalize.