Sixers’ Caleb Martin hits seven threes, shows again that he’s the new ‘Boston Strangler’

BOSTON — Caleb Martin is unaware of why he’s so successful against the Boston Celtics.

“I think they’re obviously a really good team, really well coached,” the 76ers forward said after his team’s 118-114 Christmas Day victory over the Celtics at TD Garden.

“I think I’ve always for the most part tried to rise to the occasion and play at the level that the game is being played,” he added, “and they make you rise a level. So it’s a credit to them.”

The Celtics are probably in no mood to pat themselves on the back.

» READ MORE: Sixers-Celtics takeaways: Caleb Martin shines, Paul George's shooting woes

Martin, once again, torched Boston. This time, it came during his first game against them as a Sixer. The forward scored 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting — including a career-high seven three-pointers.

“He’s playing against Boston,” center Joel Embiid said. “He hates them as much as I do. I guess I’ll take it. Nah, but he was great. I like when he’s not thinking. Tonight, he was just not thinking about it. Every time he had the ball, shoot or drive, obviously, he made his shots. We need him to keep doing that and building that confidence.”

The Sixers signed Martin in July, fully aware of his success against the Celtics.

As a member of the Miami Heat, Martin became the breakout star of the 2023 Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics. He averaged 19.3 points on 60% shooting and capped that series by scoring a playoff career-high 26 points in Game 7 in Boston to oust the favored Celtics and earn the Heat a trip to the NBA Finals.

And that wasn’t an isolated incident for the modern version of the “Boston Strangler.”

Over the past two seasons, Martin averaged 13.6 points on 50% shooting — including 44% on three-pointers — against the Celtics during the regular season and playoffs. It marked his best scoring average against an Eastern Conference foe during that span.

“They’ve been calling me that since 2022-23,” Martin said of the modern-day Boston Strangler nickname.

The most notable Boston Strangler was former Sixers guard Andrew Toney in the 1980s. Before him, it was former Sixers guard Lloyd Free in the 1970s.

» READ MORE: How Andrew Toney became the 'Boston Strangler

Toney (in 1982) and Free (in 1977) dominated the Celtics in decisive Game 7s in the playoffs.

“Any time you can develop some type of nickname in this league, obviously, that means people notice and you are doing the right thing,” Martin said. “And sometimes other people from that team don’t like you, which is always a good feeling. It’s fun.”

But on Christmas, it was more that the Celtics didn’t bother to guard him. They were more focused on defending the Sixers’ star players.

“That was the game plan,” Boston guard Jaylen Brown said. “We stick to the game plan. We trusted the game plan. Martin hit seven threes, and that’s tough and he’d done [it] before to us in the past.

“But going into it, we felt comfortable with letting him take all them shots and he just knocked them down.”

Knocking them down was an understatement.

Martin didn’t attempt a shot in the first quarter. But he drained both of his three-point attempts in the second quarter. After going 1-for-3 in the third, Martin was 4-for-4 from deep in the fourth.

“That’s what Caleb does,” Tyrese Maxey said. “That’s the Undertaker that we know. Shout-out to Caleb.”