The road woes of the Philadelphia 76ers continued in a big way Saturday night, as the team was blown out by the rival Boston Celtics 116-95.
The Sixers were never really even in the game. After Joel Embiid opened the game with a bucket, Boston ripped off a 7-0 run and that was pretty much it for the Sixers. By the end of the first quarter, the Sixers found themselves down 13.
The trouble continued in the second, as Boston pushed the lead as high as 16. The Sixers did show a bit of life late in the quarter and were able to trim the lead to a manageable eight at halftime.
Unfortunately, the third quarter was an absolute disaster. The Sixers were basically helpless, left to suffer the will of the Celtics. The Boston lead ballooned to 22 before settling at 19 heading into the fourth quarter. Philadelphia was outscored 27-16 in the third, the second time on Saturday night they failed to scored 20 points in a quarter (19 in the first).
The fourth quarter was a mere formality, as the Celtics cruised to the 21-point win.
It was a terrible showing by the Sixers. They shot just 36.9 percent from the field and a dismal 21.2 percent from 3. Meanwhile, Boston connected on 47.5 percent overall as the Sixers had far too many defensive breakdowns. The team committed 14 turnovers while forcing only 10.
Ben Simmons’ performance is the only thing that could be considered even a semblance of a bright spot, as he put up 23 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Furkan Korkmaz had 14 off the bench, and no other Sixer had more than 11.
Adding to the frustration is what happened in the game prior. A 10-point loss to the 12-win Atlanta Hawks should have been all the Sixers needed to reset the focus and for them to put forth the effort we saw Saturday night is concerning. When you also consider where the Sixers are in the standings, and where they expected to be, what has happened over the last two games is inexcusable.
With the Sixers’ inability to correct their road issues and their current position in the standings, this team is facing some real concerns right now. All things considered, Saturday’s effort is incredibly disappointing.
Things don’t get any easier for the Sixers, who play at Miami on Monday and then at East-leading Milwaukee on Thursday. The good news is the team will quickly get an opportunity to show what they’re made of, but the bad news is they’ve done very little to inspire confidence that the results will change.