PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The 76ers had a chance to set the tone for what they hope is a long postseason run, but familiar issues hurt them Monday night in Orlando, resulting in a 109-101 Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics.
“You can’t minimize the fact that losing stinks, but I feel like there are answers to the questions of why,” Sixers head coach Brett Brown told reporters afterward.
The seventh-year head coach pointed to a frustrating amount of turnovers and offensive rebounds allowed, in addition to some missed opportunities near the end of the game.
#Sixers HC Brett Brown always seems to be able to explain why #Sixers lose. After you listen to explanation I will tell you #Celtics are better but Sixers not a championship caliber team. Good teams win end of games. @SportsRadioWIP pic.twitter.com/BJLqrIIS8a
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin)
August 18, 2020 The Celtics capitalized with 21 points off of 18 Sixers turnovers. Thirteen of those giveaways happened in the first half. Although Philadelphia improved upon the issue in the third and fourth quarters, 21 points still make a huge difference, especially when the Sixers only scored seven points off of seven Celtics turnovers. Boston also grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.
Turnovers, especially, have hurt this team in games over recent years.
Some think like Brown’s squad fell short was their franchise player, Joel Embiid, who simply wasn’t active enough offensively following the first quarter.
Embiid opened the game with 11 points on five-of-five from the floor. After the first, he took just 10 shots the rest of the game, and only five in the critical fourth quarter, when elite teams often go to their best players.
And, the 7-footer didn’t get nearly enough touches in the post.
“Literally he touched the ball two times — you can count it — in what I call that sweet spot area,” former Sixers head coach Jim Lynam said on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Sixers Postgame Live program. “He will create offense for guys who aren’t quite good enough against the terrific Celtic defense to create consistently on their own in the fourth quarter. Your horse will do that for you.”
"This is Joel Embiid! It’s not Johnny Jones at 25th and Diamond."Coach went off about the Sixers needing to find Joel Embiid, especially in the fourth. pic.twitter.com/qCUDKicCkM
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly)
August 18, 2020 A reporter mentioned to Brown how Embiid had a lot of success scoring at will while posting up in the first quarter, and it seemed like the Sixers went away from it. Brown was asked if that’s something he’d like to see more of because of that specific production.
“I don’t agree with you,” Brown responded. “Part of our turnovers came from getting stood up and trying to post. And part of our turnovers came when we did post. We weren’t crisp passing out of the post.
“This is the double-edged sword that you have to figure out what line do you wanna walk, because the examples that I just gave are true. And I think there’s no doubt that we wanna get Jo the ball in different floor spots. It doesn’t always have to be bully ball at the nail where it’s just a fistfight and everything gets stuck in mud. … I think this overplaying the volume of just smash mouth, bully ball post-up — to do it all the time, comes with some level of punishment if you’re not careful.”
Embiid finished with 26 points on eight-of-15 from the floor, one-of-four from three-point range, and nine-of-12 from the foul line. He grabbed 16 rebounds and turned the ball over five times.
“Obviously, it’s not enough,” Embiid said afterward. “It’s whatever. We had a couple guys that had it going and there’s nothing really to say. I guess, especially with the way I started the first quarter, I just need to be more assertive and demand the ball and just be aggressive.”
Embiid recognized the turnover issue must be solved, and he needs to perform like the superstar he’s touted to be.
“I got one job to do: just to carry us.”
How many times have we heard this from Joel Embiid after a #Sixers loss. Listen to both bites from Embiid and tell me what you think. @SportsRadioWIP pic.twitter.com/prA9Nvh89A
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin)
August 18, 2020 Tobias Harris and reserve Alec Burks attempted as many field goals as Embiid. Josh Richardson took 17 shots.
Meanwhile, Boston All-Star Jayson Tatum had a playoff career-high with 32 points to go with 13 rebounds. Twenty-one of Tatum’s points happened in the first half. Jaylen Brown scored 29, with 15 of those coming in the fourth. Kemba Walker had 11 of his 19 in the final period when the Celtics outscored the Sixers 34-22. Despite the turnover woes and Boston’s offensive rebounding, Philadelphia led heading into the final 12 minutes.
Slowing down the 22-year-old Tatum the rest of the series will be essential for the Sixers if they’re going to upset the Celtics. Rookie Matisse Thybulle performed admirably on defense against Tatum.
Sixers veteran big man and former Celtic, Al Horford, was a minus-18 on the box score in just over 31 minutes of action. Despite six assists and this emphatic third-quarter bucket that was likely heard around the globe, Horford wasn’t very effective on Monday night.
LET EM KNOW, AL.Horford turns garbage in to gold and the Sixers lead, 79-75. pic.twitter.com/eZDQ0yEo1e
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly)
August 18, 2020 Postseason basketball — Orlando bubble or not — is about making effective adjustments in series. It will be interesting to see how Brown utilizes Thybulle going forward, after the rookie’s postseason debut featured decent defense against Tatum.
Game 2 between the Sixers and Celtics gets underway Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
