Sixers look to take advantage of upcoming easy stretch after loss to Celtics

BOSTON – It’s the start of a light stretch of work for the 76ers: Four days off, followed by seven games against teams with losing records.

Maybe that doesn’t qualify as a vacation, but it’s a nice way to build team morale. Actually, the Boston Celtics had to work a lot harder than expected to beat the Sixers on Friday night at TD Garden, enough so that the 125-119 defeat could be viewed as a moral victory.

When your best two players are sidelined with an illness, as the Sixers Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey were, and your third-best player struggled mightily, as Tobias Harris did, wins are going to be tough to come by.

The Sixers (12-7) were in the game on Friday night until the closing minutes, leading by one with 2 minutes, 28 seconds remaining. But the NBA’s first-place Celtics (15-4) responded as championship-caliber squads do, ending the game on a 10-3 run to secure the victory.

» READ MORE: Sixers vs. Celtics takeaways: Tobias Harris must improve around the rim; how Mo Bamba ‘kind of got a raw deal’

“I think we did everything it took to win a basketball game,” said Patrick Beverley. “Just kind of came up short.”

For them, that’s major progress when playing without Embiid.

The Sixers were the tougher, more physical team against the Celtics. Beverley (26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, two steals) displayed his usual bravado while agitating and, yes, schooling Boston players. Marcus Morris (13 points, seven rebounds, one steal, one block) and Robert Covington (18 points, five steals, one block) played with a grit that reminded you of Morris’ yesteryears as a Celtic and Covington’s former stint with the Sixers.

Mo Bamba (11 points, six rebounds, one block) hit two three-pointers and provided a post presence, and Paul Reed (14 points, one block) was taking it to Al Horford.

The Sixers’ mettle made you forget that this game had been written off prior to the start as a blowout victory for Boston.

A lot of that had to do with the Sixers suffering lopsided losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans in their two other games without Embiid, the league’s leading scorer at 32 points per game.

On Friday, they were also without Maxey and Nicolas Batum (hyperextended right index finger) as well as Kelly Oubre Jr. (fractured rib) and Danuel House Jr. (left quad bruise).

One of the league’s ascending young players, Maxey is averaging career highs of 27 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 6.7 assists. Meanwhile, Batum has been the Sixers’ most valuable acquisition from the Nov. 1 trade with the Clippers. The forward’s ability to guard bigger and All-Star caliber players has allowed the Sixers to be more aggressive with their defensive schemes.

» READ MORE: Sixers expect the injured Kelly Oubre Jr. to return next week

But …

“The last couple of games without Embiid, we felt like we were really soft all together,” Morris said. “We were trying to make it a point with this game with Embiid on the court or without him on the court to come out and be aggressive and play aggressive, even if we are not making shots.”

The Sixers did look suspect as the Pelicans and Timberwolves built commanding first-quarter leads by attacking the paint in Embiid’s absence.

The Timberwolves led, 37-20, at the conclusion of the first quarter on 60% shooting en route to the 112-99 victory on Nov. 22. The Pelicans took a 39-24 lead into the second quarter on 78.7% shooting in Wednesday’s 124-114 outcome.

“We didn’t want what happened in New Orleans to happen again,” Covington said. “We came together and we had talked about some things in film, and we said the way we started the game is what ideally hurt us and against New Orleans.”

Doing the little things and sticking to the game plan was the focus of Thursday’s practice.

“Even though those guys were out, it gave somebody the opportunity to step up, and people took advantage,” Covington said. “PB, me, Marcus, guys like Paul Reed, Mo stepped in big.

“When the opportunity is there, you take it and present yourself and we gave ourselves a great chance to win. It’s down the line, you know, the ball didn’t bounce our way.”

The Sixers nearly overcame the shooting woes of Harris, their best available player.

The standout power forward finished with 14 points, five rebounds, four steals, and three assists, but committed four costly turnovers.

Eleven of his points came on 5-for-7 shooting in the first half. However, had three points on 1-for-9 shooting, missing his final eight, after intermission. Two of his three second-half turnovers came in the fourth quarter. At times, Harris looked indecisive while attacking the basket.

That’s something he’s determined to correct. Harris also looks at his performances as a learning experience.

» READ MORE: Nicolas Batum has been the Sixers’ most valuable acquisition in the trade with the Clippers

With their next game not until Wednesday, the Sixers now have time to practice on their weaknesses and improve their health. They’ll also receive a boost with Oubre returning this week after being sidelined since Nov. 11 with a fractured rib.

And this upcoming easy stretch of games should help them ascend from fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

After facing the Wizards (3-16) on Wednesday in D.C., they’ll host the Atlanta Hawks (9-10) on Friday. Then they’ll face the Wizards, play consecutive games against the Detroit Pistons (2-18), before facing the Charlotte Hornets (6-12), and Chicago Bulls (7-14).

But Friday’s performance, even in a loss, gave the Sixers some momentum to build on.

“You want to play hard,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said, “and you want to execute. You want to give everything you got. And that’s what our guys did.

“And hopefully, it will give some of these guys confidence.”