The Philadelphia 76ers are in a world of trouble as they find themselves down 0-2 to the rival Boston Celtics in Round 1. They have not looked good at all and there is very little to be positive about especially after a blowout loss in Game 2.
This was not supposed to happen. The Sixers were supposed to be built for the playoffs, at least that is what coach Brett Brown and the organization has been preaching all season long. If the Sixers cannot recover and win this series, it might cost Brown his job after seven seasons of coaching the team.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith came after Brown after the Game 1 loss, but there was more to come after Game 2 as he said on First Take:
There’s nothing to talk about what about Brett Brown anymore. He is in a world of trouble. They could get swept and last night, when I saw Joel Embiid, yesterday with his head with his head in his hands. I said, this picture right here, if this series ends with him looking like that, Brett Brown is done and he’s probably done anyway…I don’t care if Ben Simmons is not there. You watch them, they were passing the ball, and literally nobody wanted to shoot and when they were forced to shoot they would shoot off balance fadeaway shots just watch the game. Joel Embiid had absolutely no help whatsoever. This Shake Milton experiment that hasn’t worked out, the (Matisse) Thybulle experiment, that hasn’t worked out. Al Horford’s not working out. Tobias Harris and his $180 million. There was supposed to be ready for this, they ain’t ready and so it just looks so bad right now.
Not just in the playoffs, but the Sixers have been up and down team all season, especially when one considers that they were so dominant at home and they were a disaster on the road before the pandemic forced things to shut down. That falls on coaching and a lack of chemistry as Smith put it:
The Sixers came out strong, Brad Stevens makes an adjustment, Brett Brown seems ill equipped to handle it, has no answer and as a result, the Philadelphia 76ers literally get blown out of deal when you take into account the season in its totality, the Sixers were absolute monsters at home at the Wells Fargo Center, and then they stepped away from it. And they weren’t even a .250 club 25% mean, listen, they were like 10-24 away from Philadelphia unbeatable that whole thing they’re winless on the road. This is coaching.
The Sixers now have to figure it out and come out stronger and better prepared in Game 3 or else this series might be over on Sunday after Game 4. [lawrence-related id=37022,37011,37004]