Sixers vs. Celtics: Joel Embiid had better days, Tobias Harris toughs it out, Jaden Springer shows he deserves minutes

Joel Embiid isn’t perfect.

Tobias Harris has a knack for playing through injuries. And Jaden Springer can be a dependable role player.

Those three things that stood out in the Sixers’ 117-107 loss to the Boston Celtics Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Here are the takeaways:

Folks will look at Embiid’s statline and notice he flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 20 points, nine rebounds and seven. They’ll also say that the reigning MVP made 8 of 16 shots. But he wasn’t his dominant self.

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The Celtics (9-2) outscored the Sixers (8-3) by 25 points while he was on the floor. Embiid also committed a fourth-quarter turnover that led to a Celtics game-clinching 16-6 run. This marked the sixth time that he has been a minus-25 in his career. Three of the six times have come against the Celtics.

“The last few games I’ve been bad, but that doesn’t represent us,” said Embiid, who is averaging an NBA-best 31.9 points per game. “We’re better than that. I know I’m better than that.

“Not everyone is perfect. You can’t have great games all the time. So just learn from it and get better.”

By now, folks should know that Harris will play through an assortment of injuries and ailments. And this game was a prime example.

The power forward was listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game with neck pain after Bruce Brown came crashing down on him in Tuesday’s game against the Indiana Pacers. But he played and finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

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After the game, Harris walked gingerly in the locker room. He moved like someone that had just been in a train wreck.

“This was an important one, trying to get the W on,” Harris said. “It didn’t go our way, so it’s a tough one. But, I just tried to give whatever I got out there. I’m definitely not 100% or close to it. … It literally feels like whiplash.”

Nick Nurse might want to play Springer more often.

Heading into Wednesday night, the third-year guard didn’t get any minutes in three of the last four games.

You wouldn’t have known that by the way he produced against the Celtics. He moved around with the ease of a regular-rotation player, scoring nine points on 4-for-5 shooting. He also had two steals and finished with a game-best plus-20.

“It was really coming in and trying to make an impact,” he said of his mindset, “like staying aggressive. I know my defense is going to be there. But I was trying to show a little more on offense just showing I can help on both.

“That’s probably it, playing whatever role I need to be out there. So that’s my mindset.”