BSJ Game Report: Celtics 112, Sixers 101 - Impressive offense and some perfect performances

Everything you need to know about the Celtics win over the Philadelphia 76ers, in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

With Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown sitting out for Boston (and James Harden and Joel Embiid sitting for Philadelphia), the Celtics got nice first-half performances from Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford. Boston shot 50% in the first half and went into the half up eight. Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser keyed an 18-3 run in the third to push the lead to 15 and Boston’s end-of-bench guys carried that through the fourth quarter. 

Box Score

Let’s continue the preseason format of just going player-by-player for evaluations:

Kristaps Porzingis: Once again showed a little bit of everything. He spaced the floor and hit a 27-footer, he rolled hard on pick-and-rolls to catch a lob, he posted up, and he protected the rim on the other end of the floor. It’s obvious that he adds a new, very dangerous dynamic to Boston’s offense. 

Jrue Holiday: He looks more comfortable out there. He ran the offense well, getting to the rim and notching a couple of assists. He played his typically good defense as well, so encouraging moments from him. 

Derrick White: He was the best player on the floor in the second quarter. He blocked three shots and turned a couple of those into his own points on the other end. The top four guys here all played 17:04, and I’d argue that each of them played their role almost perfectly. White had an amazing two way game. He played so well it’s a shame it was wasted on a preseason game.  

Al Horford: He did some of everything as well. He hit his shot, defended well, rebounded … and he looked like his young self finishing the fast break. 

Sam Hauser: The shots are starting to fall for Hauser, who officially went 4-9 from deep but got fouled on another attempt. Of course he hit all three free throws, so he counted by three to get to 15 points on the night. He also had four rebounds and three assists to go with a steal and a block. If Boston get this kind of game from Hauser every night, they’ll be in great shape. 

Payton Pritchard: What else can I say about this guy? Another monster game (17 points, 3 assists in 23:44 of playing time) controlling the action, attacking, and hitting big shots. He and Hauser threw the knockout punch in the third quarter.

Dalano Banton: A step back on offense, going scoreless after attacking relentlessly in the last game. He also got pulled less than 30 seconds into the second half to get chewed out by Joe Mazzulla. He did grab four rebounds and push the pace well, but it was a bit of a regression.

Svi Mykhailiuk: He’ll hit some shots for Boston this season. He made the most of his 19 minutes, scoring 15 points and missing only once (5-6 fg, 3-4 3pt). More impressively, he had six rebounds, and a couple of assists. 

Luke Kornet: Mostly meh, but he did have three assists, including one nice one on a backdoor cut by Pritchard. There's some question for me about Kornet’s role, but I want to be fair to him and note that he’ll be playing off much better players in the regular season, which will help him look better. He’d better hope I’m right, because I’m not impressed with his preseason so far. 

Oshae Brissett/Lamar Stevens: I’m lumping them together again because it was more of the same. They each rebounded fairly well, they were okay defensively, and they did nothing much offensively. Brissett did a little more, notching a couple of assists. 

Neemias Queta: Just about eight minutes of play but he went 4-4 in that time, catching lobs and finishing dump-offs for dunks. I want to see him get some minutes with the main guys just to see if he can hang with them and against better defenders. He’s a prime candidate to take minutes from Kornet. 

Jordan Walsh: Nothing impressive about his 12:34 on the floor. 

JD Davison: He had a couple of nice moments running the pick-and-roll. He needs to keep developing that halfcourt game to have a chance next season. 

Wenyan Gabriel: Someone got him to calm down. He was super-hyped for his Celtics debut in New York. He played under control and managed to score a couple of buckets. Still not sure his spot on the roster is secure, though. 

Here are some highlights

The Celtics are now off until Tuesday night, when they host the Knicks.