Five defenders on Joel Embiid weren’t enough. Plus, Ben Simmons’ thievery. | Sixers-Celtics best/worst

BOSTON — This was a victory the 76ers will cherish.

Tuesday’s 106-96 win over the Boston Celtics enabled the Sixers to sweep a season series against their archrivals for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

Here are the best and worst performances.

Joel Embiid gets this. The Sixers center had 35 points, six rebounds and one block in his second game back after suffering a bone bruise in his left knee. He made 16 of 20 foul shots. The Celtics had five different defenders on him, but none of it mattered as Embiid scored 31 or more points for the 16th time this season.

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Jaylen Brown gets this. Some might question why I’m giving this to the Celtics’ All-Star guard on a night he finished with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting. Well, he gets this for his struggles on the defensive end. Brown had more personal fouls (four) than rebounds (three). He also committed three turnovers and was a game-worst minus-22 as the Sixers kept attacking him.

Ben Simmons gets this. The Sixers point guard had a game-high three steals. This marked the first time since Feb. 6 that he recorded three steals in a game.

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This goes to Simmons’ first-quarter foul shooting. The three-time All-Star missed all four of his foul shots in the opening quarter en route to going 4-for-8 for the game.

You have to give this to the Celtics’ foul shooting. They made 16 of 18 (88.9%) for the game.

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This goes to the Sixers’ sweeping the season series against the Celtics. In addition to being the first time in 20 years, it was just the fourth time overall that they accomplished that feat.

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