Joel Embiid Crowns Celtics Best Team In The NBA After Rough Outing Against Boston

The Philadelphia 76ers played host to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night with a chance to take over the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Things didn't go as planned for Philly, however, despite the fact that both Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown didn't suit up for Boston. Not only did the 76ers lose the game 132-126, based on Joel Embiid's postgame comments, they lost a serious amount of confidence as well.

Many pointed to the fact that the 76ers were on the back end of a back-to-back as to why they weren't exactly fresh on Wednesday night. It's a valid argument as plenty of teams struggle playing two games in a 24-hour stretch, but to Embiid's credit, he didn't lean on the schedule as an excuse.

READ: JOEL EMBIID POLITELY HITS BACK AT JAMES HARDEN’S CLAIM THAT SIXERS KEPT HIM ON ‘A LEASH’

According to him, Philadelphia lost to not only a better team, but the best team in the NBA.

“We’re professional athletes, that's the schedule, you just got to do it,” a rather annoyed-looking Embiid said in the locker room. “Especially playing Indiana twice and then on a back-to-back, playing the best team in the league, it’s tough. But no excuses.” 

Taking a quick glance at Embiid's stat line during the loss of 20 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, most would tip their cap and say that was a solid outing from the big man. In actuality, his 20-point total was his lowest of the season and it was just the third time all year Embiid didn't snag at least 10 boards.

Perhaps the most glaring statistic from the night was Embiid being a -25. Boston has managed to turn him into more of a liability than a problem a few times in his career thus far.

Some irrational Philadelphia fans will the comments from Joel Embiid against him, at least for a bit, but with 61 games left in the regular season the Sixers are just fine at 8-3 on the year.

Follow Mark Harris on X @ItIsMarkHarris and email him at mark.harris@outkick.com