What is the story about?
Yeah, I don’t know what I expected.
The Sixers got crushed 123-91 in Game 1 by the Boston Celtics Sunday afternoon, falling down 0-1 in the series.
Tyrese Maxey was unable to pull a rabbit out of the hat, leading the Sixers with 21 points shooting 8-of-20 from the floor along with eight assists. Paul George put up 17 points on 4-of-8 shooting along with four rebounds, one assist, and two turnovers.
VJ Edgecombe had his moments in his first playoff game, going for points shooting 6-of-16 from the floor
with three rebounds and three assists. Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 26.
Joel Embiid (appendectomy surgery recovery) was the only player unable to suit up due to injury.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- The Sixers came out chucking — their first three shots of the game were all from behind the arc, but only one of those fell and it was banked off the glass. Adem Bona got the start at center but got a very quick hook after picking up two fouls with a turnover in the process. The Sixers were also able to draw two quick fouls on Neemias Queta though once Maxey and George were able to find space to drive.
- It would take just about flawless basketball to get a win and that’s not how the Sixers came out. George had two rough turnovers while Andre Drummond committed a bad loose ball foul after a rare stop. The Celtics ripped off a 14-2 run to get out to a comfortable lead. Nick Nurse opted to go small with Dominick Barlow at the five when Drummond picked up his second, the only positive being the moving screen wasn’t absurdly upgraded to a flagrant.
- All of this was secondary though to the Sixers inability to score. Maxey did as good of a job as he could being asked to make something magical happen off the dribble every possession. It took nine minutes of game time for someone other than Maxey or George score, and 10 minutes for a different Sixer to make a field goal. Jayson Tatum made a couple of baskets then found Jordan Walsh in transition to give the Celtics a 15-point lead after one.
Second Quarter
- George made a quick four free throws out of five. Justin Edwards ended the three-point drought and followed that up with an and-1. He couldn’t convert that free throw and the Sixers still couldn’t make much progress. Drummond checked back in, but with Luka Garza drawing him out to the perimeter, the Sixers had no interior presence.
- The frustration for Philly culminated in Drummond getting T’d up as the Celtics pushed their lead to 20. The struggles at center continued as Bona missed two putback bunnies in a row at point-blank range. Not only could they not buy a jumper to fall but they kept leaving points on the table at the line with Kelly Oubre Jr. becoming the latest Sixer unable to convert an and-1. The Sixers shot 12-of-18 from the line in the half.
- Forget flawless play, the Sixers just weren’t able to get out of their own way. Edgecombe converted a rare and-1 then the Sixers retained possession their next trip down the floor with the ball going off the Celtics. They immediately turned the ball over trying to throw an inbounds pass from the baseline to half court. A small positive is that Edgecombe got a couple floaters to go in the quarter after a very quiet start. He nailed a turnaround to pull the Sixers within 18 at the half.
Third Quarter
- The Sixers finally got a couple bounces to go their way with a couple of baskets followed by an unsuccessful Celtics challenge. A missed layup from Oubre led to Boston being able to respond, but the Sixers were able to get those points back and prevent another run.
- Another poorly-timed turnover helped the Celtics snatch momentum right back. They had gotten a stop down 15 and Maxey was leaking out ahead of the defense. Drummond’s outlet pass didn’t have enough on it and Brown intercepted it. Two Boston threes later and the reeling Sixers called a timeout. They missed two midrange looks coming out of the timeout while Brown and Tatum each got an easy basket at the rim to cap off a 10-0 run.
- A good example of execution being the difference was the offensive rebounding numbers vs. second-chance points. The Sixers pulled more down through three quarters, having 11 offensive rebounds to just four for Boston, but second-chance points were in Boston’s favor 12-10. Each one of those points felt back breaking with the Sixers fighting tooth and nail for every basket. They trailed by 24 going into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
- Quentin Grimes taking and making his first two shots of the game didn’t stop the Celtics from taking their first 30-point lead of the night. The amount of wide open layups the Sixers missed was staggering as Barlow became the latest to do so. To this point in the game they were shooting 55% at the rim, which Cleaning the Glass puts in the 12th percentile across the league.
- It didn’t take very long into the quarter for the white flag to be raised. Both teams shut down their stars, with Trendon Watford and Dalen Terry checking in for the first time. Edwards made the best case for minutes in this series as the only bench player to hit shots, and even he finished this game 3-of-9 from the field. The Celtics fans mocked the “we want Boston” chants towards the end of the game to put the cherry on this crap sundae.
