BSJ Game Report: Sixers 106, Celtics 103 - Maxey too much, C's comeback falls just short

Everything you need to know about the Celtics loss to the Sixers with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

Jrue Holiday started out on Joel Embiid defensively and did a fine job, leading to an early Boston run to take a lead. They took a five-point lead into the second, which they grew to 11, but Philly started turning Boston over and crashing the glass to flip the game and lead by seven at the half. The third was ugly for Boston, as they shot 25% and turned it over five times as Embiid went off for 13 points. Tyrese Maxey took over in the fourth while Boston just couldn't hit any of the shots they generated. That changed with just over two minutes to go, when Boston cut a 14-point lead down to three, but Kristaps Porzingis’ clean look at a 3-pointer fell just short.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Rough shooting night: They shot 40% overall from the field, 31.9% from 3. Joe Mazzulla said multiple times in the preseason that they had to figure out how to win in games where they missed their 3-pointers. They shot nearly 49% from 2, and in games like this where things weren’t falling from long range, finding their way into other good shots has to be the priority.

- Shot blockers the issue? This is the second straight game that elite rim protection seemed to get Boston out of their offensive flow to some degree. They need to get better at involving Porzingis in actions to draw the big away from the rim and maybe opening things up for guards like Jrue Holiday to get in the post to snap runs. Or maybe get more plays like this?

- Same ol’ issues: Offensive rebounding was once again a problem (12 Philly ORebs for 19 second chance points). The bench outside of Sam Hauser was once again a problem (outscored 20-16). Turnovers were once again a problem (10 turnovers through first three quarters). Forget all the other stuff I said, if they just cleared defensive rebounds and got a few buckets from Payton Pritchard, this entire game goes differently.

TURNING POINT

I’ll let Mazzulla handle this one: 

“I thought it was the second quarter when we gave up the offensive rebounds and the transition. We had some sloppy play. You go back and watch close games, they're never really lost in the fourth quarter. Sometimes they are -- but you look at that run in the second quarter where we gave up three or four straight offensive rebounds and then we didn't get matched and gave up a three, I think it was lost there.” 

He’s right. The Celtics had the lead at 11 and I thought they were about to run away with the game as Embiid sat on the bench. But they were outscored 37-19 the rest of the way and Boston could never get it back. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Holiday defending Embiid: Holiday just defends bigs now. It’s such an interesting strategy. They didn’t get the help right all the time, and that hurt them in some stretches. But it was also part of why they were able to get out to an early lead. There's some tweaking to be done here with this, but there's value to it. 

- The comeback: Obviously you don’t want to be in that situation, but it does say a lot that they didn’t quit when they were down 14 with just over two minutes to go. They put together a good run and had a chance to tie the game. 

Side note: The end of this game is exactly what Mazzulla is talking about when it comes to his timeouts. He had two in the final minute, he called one at :38 to give his team a two-for-one opportunity, which they hit. Then he called his second to set up the game-tying opportunity, which Porzingis left just short. Agree or not with Mazzulla’s philosophy, this is where it worked out for him. 

- Sam Hauser: Good to see his shot falling again. He was 5-8 overall and 3-6 from 3. But on top of that, he had some very nice defensive plays. The other stuff he does is flying under the radar this season. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Getting out-worked: I’ll go back to that second quarter when I was literally preparing myself to type how great it was to have Jayson Tatum and the bench group out there when Embiid sat so they could build a big lead and put pressure on the Sixers. Losing those minutes was rough. I want to say it’s inexcusable but that's too harsh for this time of year. They just need to be better in that spot.

- Jaylen Brown’s shooting (non-final two minutes): Rough night for Brown, though it was nice to see him hit those last two shots. Those were huge. It’s honestly tough for Boston to win when Tatum scores 16 and Brown has 11. 

- Payton Pritchard’s shooting: A bonafide slump for Pritchard who was 0-4 from the field, 0-2 from 3. He has made shots in only three of the seven games he’s played, and he’s only hit 3-pointers in two. He’s oh-for-his last three games, and 3-20 (15%) from 3 overall this season

- The tech on Porzingis for hanging on the rim: What is this? College? He got bumped while he was dunking it, so he hung on the rim and came down when it was safe. Calling a tech on that is absolutely ridiculous.

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- The Sixers are for real: I’m buying them as a good team this year. I was very willing to write them off because of the James Harden mess, but the trade happened at a good time for them. Maxey is on his way to an All-NBA season and probably Most Improved Player. Embiid is obviously really good. And Nick Nurse has them playing well. This team is going to be a challenge this season. 

- Let’s not make effort a thing again: Rebounding is effort. Transition is effort. The Celtics have a history of maybe not dialing up the effort all the time, and it looked like that was in their past. 

I’m not going to overreact now, but I am going to put a pin in this and come back to it if I have to. They have to show they can put forth a full effort on nights where the shots aren’t falling. That absolutely has to be how they operate. There might be some human nature, but these are elite NBA stars, and those guys can find their way past things like that.

Next up: Boston returns home to face Brooklyn at home on Friday night. That is their first In-Season Tournament game.