PHILADELPHIA — The Sixers struggled on both ends in a 123-101 Tuesday night loss to the Boston Celtics in the opening matchup of their four-game regular-season series. Jaylen Brown was held to 13 points in his first matchup against his former team, while Paul George scored 36 in his return to Philadelphia.
Here's what I saw.
The Celtics opened the game with a balanced scoring attack, while the Sixers largely relied on Tyrese Maxey and trips to the free-throw line by Embiid and Brown for their early points. That caught up to them pretty quickly, as they struggled to put the ball through the hoop.
Brown looked intent on proving something early, and while he did well to come up with a pair of steals, he undermined that effort by playing with more aggression than intent, leading to multiple turnovers and missed shots.
Since Brown was traded from Boston, a frankly nauseating amount of conversation has been had about the drama surrounding his exit. Tuesday provided the first opportunity for the conversation to return to the court, but neither Brown nor the Sixers did much to settle the noise in what was among the worst-potential scenarios as they were thoroughly outplayed on both ends while Paul George was the most impressive player on the court.
George was effective in nearly everything he tried, while Brown was perhaps the Sixers’ least effective player over the full 48, a far cry from how he’s generally played this season. They certainly didn’t lose this game because of Brown, though; that was a team effort.
Embiid was largely successful getting to the line but made just seven of his nine early attempts — a solid number for most centers, but below Embiid's career average. From the floor, he continued to struggle, going the entire half without a made field goal. He ultimately took a fall late in the first half, grabbing his left ankle after an awkward landing, and had a noticeable limp for the final minute.
LeBron wasn't much of a factor in the first half, either. He still had some impressive outlet passes but produced little otherwise. One of those passes found Embiid, who was guarded by Tatum in transition. Getting the ball to Embiid in that situation was the logical decision, but the big man was too uncertain with his approach, ultimately leading to his awkward landing.
The Sixers were flat-out bad defensively at the start of this game. Embiid looked uncomfortable with his mobility, leading to far too many easy buckets for Boston, while Philadelphia over-rotated and gifted the Celtics a barrage of open looks from three.
Jaylen Brown initially took the assignment of guarding Jayson Tatum, but after Tatum got off to a hot start, Nurse pivoted, subbing Dean Wade into the game for Brown. Wade was far better than any other Sixer at defending Tatum and remained matched up with him throughout much of the game, but Wade couldn't defend all five Celtics at once.
It was an unfortunate series of misfires on both ends for the Sixers in the first half, and if it weren't for Maxey's production and their ability to work their way to the line, Boston's advantage would have been much larger from the jump.
The Sixers came into the second half with much-improved energy, and it was the recently limping Embiid, of all people, who kick-started things, making his first shot of the game — from deep, no less. They even worked to even up the game in the third, truly playing together for what felt like the first time that evening, at least while it lasted.
Boston ended the third quarter trading threes with Tyrese Maxey, but the Celtics made five to his two, regaining a nine-point lead entering the fourth.
It was at that point that the Sixers needed to make a stand, but instead, they allowed a 14-0 Boston run while missing their first seven shots, until a Jaylen Brown three stopped the bleeding. The Sixers scored just five points in the first half of the fourth quarter before conceding the game.
The Sixers will remain in South Philly as they prepare to face the Raptors — notably without Kawhi Leonard — on Thursday, Nov. 12. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
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