The number that should follow Philadelphia into Game 3 is not Joel Embiid's injury status. It is 71.
That is what Boston scored over the final 40 minutes of Game 2, a stretch long enough to make the Sixers' win feel like more than a shooting variance story. Philadelphia did not just survive without Embiid. It found a way to be competitive long enough, connected enough, and stubborn enough to even the series.
Now comes the harder part: doing it again with Boston aware of what just happened.
Embiid participated in parts of practice while recovering from an appendectomy, and he was listed as doubtful for Game 3. Nick Nurse has sounded hopeful about his progress, but doubtful is still doubtful. The Sixers have to prepare as if the same basic burden remains: win enough possessions without the player who normally cleans up the geometry of everything.
That is why Game 2 should not be framed as a feel-good escape. It was more useful than that. It gave Philadelphia a tactical argument. If the Sixers can keep Boston from turning every possession into a clean advantage, if they can make the Celtics work deeper into the clock, and if they can keep the game from becoming a parade of easy answers, then this series has a different shape than it had after the opener.
The caution is obvious. Boston gets a vote, and playoff teams usually respond when an opponent shows them the trick once. Holding the Celtics down for another extended stretch without Embiid is a much larger ask than doing it once.
But Philadelphia does not need to pretend Game 2 solved the series. It only needs to prove it discovered something repeatable. Game 3 is the audit.