Ben Simmons had his way with the Celtics in the paint. Boston had a rough shooting performance from the floor. But there was one driving force that led to the Celtics' 107-93 loss in Philadelphia: missed free throws.
The Celtics only made 20 of their 34 free-throw attempts (58.8%). That's 14 free points, which is exactly what Boston lost by.
Jayson Tatum went 4-for-8 from three and had 21 points, but he took some bad shots from two — and had some ugly misses as a result. Among his poor decisions were his four turnovers, the most of any Celtic in the loss.
Kemba Walker went 4-for-18 from the field in his Celtics regular season debut. Of his 14 misses, five were from behind the arc. Walker only made one of his three-point attempts.
Although the refs were quick to blow the whistle — on both teams — Jaylen Brown logged four fouls before halftime, then drew his fifth in the opening minute of the third quarter. Inexcusable.
Robert Williams looked much better defensively than he did in the preseason. He still made some poor decisions late, but this was a step in the right direction.
Grant Williams was a minor bright spot, as well. He only played seven minutes. But he challenged the Sixers' bigs when he was out there. He's going to take minutes away from Semi Ojeleye if he builds off Wednesday's performance.
Boston's best player was clearly Gordon Hayward. He missed two free throws, but he got to the line 11 times. He also went 8-for-15 from the floor.
But Hayward's performance was not perfect. Defensively, he made some mental mistakes. Offensively, he was too hesitant early. When he attacked the rim as soon as the ball touched his hands, Philly didn't have an answer. Hayward has to identify that sooner and expose that weakness.
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