BOSTON — The Philadelphia 76ers had a chance to make a bit of a statement on Wednesday night on the road. They were a healthy group taking on the defending Eastern Conference champions.
It seemed set up for Philadelphia. The Celtics entered the game missing three starters: Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Robert Williams III sat out with injuries. Then, Jaylen Brown left in the second quarter with a facial fracture.
Jayson Tatum and Brown combined for a total of 16 points, yet the Celtics prevailed 106-99. Boston received double-digit points from six players, including Blake Griffin who pumped in 15 points on five 3s in a rare start.
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“Very disappointing,” said James Harden who had 26 points and 11 assists. “Very frustrating. Especially, coming off of the loss and the way we played in New York. It was an opportunity for us to have a good bounce-back game and we didn’t do it.”
Harden and the Sixers scored the game’s first seven points, but they then left Griffin open from deep and he made them pay for it. After that, they really didn’t look all that impressive. They looked slow on the defensive end, and they looked stagnant on the offensive end.
“I just didn’t ever think we had a lot of zip the entire night,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We played flat the entire night. We had wide-open shots all night, but didn’t make them, but that can’t be a factor. You’re gonna have games like that. I really didn’t think we played with the right spirit the entire night to win the game.”
The defensive effort continues to bother Rivers. There was a moment on Wednesday when the Celtics had 0.5 seconds left on the shot clock, and the Sixers allowed Luke Kornet to throw down a lob from the baseline.
“Honestly, I thought just as a whole, defensively, we couldn’t get any timely stops,” said Rivers. “They score with 0.5 on the clock. I just thought our defensive discipline the entire night was just poor. Our offensive movement was poor, and I think when you play that way, you probably shouldn’t win.”
On the night, the Sixers allowed the Celtics to shoot 19-for-35 from deep which is good for 54.3% from deep. Overall, Boston shot 52.6% from the floor, and the Sixers just weren’t able to figure it out despite doing a terrific job on Boston’s stars.
“I thought we did a pretty good job on the key players,” said Joel Embiid. “They move the ball pretty well and that’s really how they play. Just drive and kick and they were able to create enough separation which causes a little bit of help and wide-open shots. They knocked them down.”
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