The undermanned Philadelphia 76ers showed a lot of heart in a road loss to the Boston Celtics. Without Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Nicolas Batum, the Sixers brought the Celtics down to the very last seconds in a 125-119 defeat.

Patrick Beverley had himself a fantastic game as he tied a career-high of 26 points to go along with eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals. De'Anthony Melton finished with 21 points and five of the other nine Sixers to see playing time in this game also scored in double figures. The Cetics' quartet of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and Derrick White combined for 82 points, each of them tallying at least 20.

This game was pretty much all about Beverley chugging along as the main offensive engine for the Sixers while guys deeper on the bench had some good moments in extended minutes. Let's dive into the Sixers' film.

5. K.J.'s clamps

Robert Covington's defense will be a big topic of conversation from this game — and it will be next. But K.J. Martin deserves praise, too. The way he defended Tatum and Brown was super encouraging and impressive.

The size and athleticism are there for Martin to be a versatile defender. Martin forced Tatum to cough up the ball on one possession and slid toward him as a help defender to poke it away from him another time. He moved his feet very well and didn’t let screens slow him down. On this play, he doesn’t necessarily get a stop but he does make a basket harder to come by for Brown.

Watch as Martin stays close to Brown as he comes off a pindown and gets up with him as he receives the ball, acting as a sort of hedge. He doesn’t commit all the way to him because a good shooter, Payton Pritchard, is unattended right behind him and he doesn’t totally leave Furkan Korkmaz on an island. Even though the lane for Brown to drive would have been with his weaker hand, it could have easily resulted in a clean look or foul shots.

Since Martin helps the Sixers' defense reset, Brown has limited space to attack Korkmaz, especially because Tobias Harris is right there to help near the nail. He settles for a floater but misfires. With Martin on the court, the Sixers had a 103.6 defensive rating. Their offense rating was worse but it's at least a minor sign that Martin has untapped potential as a positive team defender.

4. Classic Cov

Few plays can sum up Covington's style of play and impact on winning as well as this one.

Brown drives left, doing a good job of keeping Covington on the other side of him. At just the right time, Covington pulls off the classic poke-away-from-behind steal on the Celtics star. He waits just as Brown brings the ball back up to jar it loose right to his teammates for one of his five steals, a single-game total he hasn’t reached in nearly two years.

Then, he trails the fast break behind Melton for a three. Martin helps get him open by running the floor well, which pulls Horford to the paint instead of letting him drift to the wing. RoCo has all the space he needs to fire away to sink one of his three triples of the night.

3. Double drag swag

Double drag screens are a go-to for many NBA offenses. Especially for players like Beverley who aren’t insane in isolation, they can greatly help open up room to generate offense.

Early in the game, the Sixers ran a double drag for Beverley with Mo Bamba as the first screener and Covington as the second. Brown went very far under the screen against Beverley, making sure he didn’t get a lane to drive and opting not to worry about him pulling a deep three. That makes sense for PatBev, who's not known for pulling deep shots.

The Sixers have Bamba dive to the hoop and Covington pop out for three. One of the benefits of having a big that can shoot like Bamba is that either screener can roll or pop out but in this play, Philly goes for the traditional sequence.

Brown goes so far under the screens that the Celtics have trouble switching. Dalano Banton switches from Bamba to Beverley but not from Beverley to Covington on the second screen, seemingly to avoid switching with center Neemias Queta. Covington gets an open three because of the lapse in coverage.

2. Not Tobi's time

After acknowledging and appreciating the great start Harris had to the season, Sixers fans are ready to trade him for a Crumbl cookie.

Harris was very good in the first half and a total disaster on offense in the second half, mightily struggling to score. Some of his shots got blocked from behind and others were not strong takes to begin with.

Far too many of Harris' shots came as he was going away from the hoop. With the Sixers down by one, with every possession mattering more and more, Harris gets a screen from Paul Reed and drives left. After doing a very good job clearing space away from Brown using his body, Harris fades and fires.

It's already not a great shot with Horford right there and it's made more frustrating by how open Reed is in the middle of the paint. The bump Harris gives to Brown opens up Reed to be a recipient of a pocket pass with no one in his way except for Holiday, who’s already dealing with Covington on the block. Harris does end up creating a good shot; it just wasn’t one for him.

Harris going for his own shot in this situation is defensible because the shot clock is winding down and the offense has nothing going. But missing Reed here is a brutal look, especially considering the space he had to dump it off and the much, much better shot quality offered by Reed's look.

1. Pat. Bev.

This game will be remembered as the Patrick Beverley Game.

The Celtics made Beverley, who has had little-to-no scoring juice for most of this season so far, look like prime Tony Parker. He had a deep bag of dribble moves and finishes in the paint that served as the Sixers' backbone. His playmaking and shooting from deep only added to what was a shocking night of buckets from the 35-year-old guard.

On one early-game possession, Beverley hops backward after sizing up Holiday, which invites him to come up with him. But in an instant, Beverley dribbles between his legs and lowers his shoulder to get a step on one of basketball's premier perimeter defenders. By lulling the defense to sleep at the top of his move, no one is ready to help in time. Reed and Marcus Morris Sr. staying a little active helps occupy the defenders.

Beverley's last three games have been his highest-scoring of the season and two of his best in the assists column, too. It appears that PatBev still has plenty left in the tank.