Everything you need to know about the Sixers' 107-93 win over the Celtics with BSJ insight and analysis
HEADLINES
False start for Kemba: Kemba Walker has some big shoes to fill in Boston but he came out misfiring in his debut as a Celtic. The 6-footer failed to get to the rim all night against the Sixers size and couldn’t connect from the perimeter consistently, mustering just 12 points on 4-of-18 shooting, (1-of-6 from 3-pt). He failed to make much of an impact in other facets of the game (two rebounds, two assists) as he struggled to find his spots on the offensive end. Boston managed to hang around in the first half but they failed to keep pace with the Sixers in the second half as he finished the game with just two points on 1-of-9 shooting after intermission.
A sputtering offense: Walker wasn’t the only one struggling for Boston’s offense all night that featured a shooting night that was 36.7 percent, which would have been their worst shooting night out of all 82 regular-season games last year. Gordon Hayward (20 of a game-high 25 points in the second half) was a bright spot but there was plenty of issues elsewhere, particularly on the perimeter. Jayson Tatum went for 21 points and 10 rebounds but needed 22 shots to post that type of production. The visitors also shot just 26.9 percent from 3-point range and a woeful 20-of-34 from the line (58 percent), hampering any chance to remain close to Philly’s offense that erupted for 58 second-half points.
Fouls everywhere: The two teams combined for 63 fouls and 70 free throws in the opener, which created a lengthy uneven affair for the better part of 48 minutes. The C’s hurt themselves the most with the miscues as Brown spent the majority of the second and third quarter on the bench due to foul trouble. 14 missed free throws by Boston also loomed large as Ben Simmons (24 points) helped the hosts take command of the game in the second half.
TURNING POINT
After the Celtics cut the Sixers lead down to four at the start of the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run, the Sixers came out of a timeout with a 10-0 outburst thanks to a pair of open 3s from Tobias Harris and Furkan Korkmaz to push the Sixers lead back up to 14. Boston never seriously threatened after that ourburst.
TWO UP
Gordon Hayward: It took him a while to get going but Hayward managed to keep the C’s from getting blown out the second half with his offense. He scored 20 of 25 points in the second half and got to the free throw line a game-high 11 times.
Enes Kanter: The veteran center earned a semi-surprise start and did a respectable job against the Sixers All-Star big man, helping to limit Embiid to 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting while chipping in with 12 points of his own.
TWO DOWN
Walker: See above.
Jaylen Brown: He picked up a couple cheap fouls in the first half that left him on the bench for the final eight minutes of the second quarter with four fouls. He picked up another touch foul in the third quarter that left him on the bench until the fourth. With Boston’s lack of scoring on the bench. Brown needed to be smarter with his physicality in a came like this to ensure he stayed on the court.
TOP PLAY
.@KembaWalker ? pic.twitter.com/BJmjt6P2wB
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 24, 2019
INJURY REPORT
Kanter was seen limping in the locker room after the game and Brad Stevens said he was beat up. Marcus Smart took an elbow to the throat and has a bruised vocal cord, but he's expected to play Friday.
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Brad Stevens doesn’t know who to trust off the bench yet: Smart played 33 minutes off the pine but Brad Stevens went 12 deep in the first half in this one and played six guys between six and 11 minutes. Boston’s bench scored just 15 points combined including Smart and shot just 5-of-21 collectively, foreshadowing a unit that’s going to struggle to give Boston a spark all year. Carsen Edwards came out cold in his debut (1-of-5 FG) and there isn’t many other players to turn in this group to find easy offense. That leads to trouble on nights like Wednesday when Walker and Tatum deliver offensive duds. I’d expect a lot more trial and error in the next month for Stevens to figure out which guys best complement Boston’s scorers on both ends of the floor.
The Sixers look mortal in the East: They wore the Celtics down in this one but they still have a lot of question marks of their own, especially with their perimeter shooting (24 percent from 3-point range). I’d expect them to be a monster on the defensive end most nights thanks to their length but it's going to be tough for them to match up against smaller teams that have plenty of shooting on the wing. They were disjointed on the offensive end for much of the night against a pesky C's defense before Simmons got rolling in transition in the second half with plenty of looks in the paint. When the game slows down, I'm not sure where the reliable offense is going to come from in this group so they will have to win many games on the strength of their defense in the early going.