The Philadelphia 76ers (39-20) took the court for one of their biggest games of the season: their first home game of the season against the Boston Celtics (44-17). After losing their last two matchups in Boston in embarrassing fashion, the Sixers lost in heartbreaking fashion at the hands of Jayson Tatum. Final score: 110-107.
Let's break down the Sixers' loss to the Celtics.
Sixers player notes:
Joel Embiid: 41 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, 12-21 FG shooting
Embiid dominated on both sides of the court and scored at will against his former teammate, Al Horford, with an array of moves. His playmaking was great, too, running some hand-off plays (though he often opted to throw small passes rather than literally hand it off) that generated triples and lanes to drive.
James Harden: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 5-16 FG shooting
Harden had a bit of a slow start, especially during his minutes leading the bench unit. He fed Embid plenty of buckets but struggled to both score himself and orchestrate the offense without the big fella.
Tyrese Maxey: 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 4-10 FG shooting
Maxey's impact was minimal and it left the Sixers somewhat empty in the non-Embiid minutes. He couldn't get much going on offense and didn't make up for it on the other end, though he did provide some critical buckets in the fourth.
P.J. Tucker: 7 points, 16 rebounds, 1 assist, 2-7 FG shooting
This was the consummate Tucker game: hard-fought layups, taking and making the few shots he gets up (at least in the first half) and physical defense. His rebounding was spectacular, collecting double-digit boards in one half for the first time in his career.
Tobias Harris: 19 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist, 8-12 FG shooting
Harris looked emboldened from his clutch shots on Thursday and scored at sensational efficiency for the Sixers in the first quarter. He also spent time guarding both of Boston's stars.
Celtics player notes:
Jayson Tatum: 18 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 7-17 FG shooting
Tatum once again punished the Sixers more with his playmaking than his scoring as he struggled to find his shot. It was beyond missing shots — he didn't take as many as you would want out of your first option and scored mostly on open or put-back dunks. He also threw some ugly passes beyond his teammates' reach. But in the end, he made enough clutch shots — including the last one — to snatch the win.
Jaylen Brown: 26 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 10-21 FG shooting
Brown scored a quick eight points and infused some intensity into the crowd, who uproariously reacted to him hip-checking Embiid while pursuing a loose ball. He also picked up his second foul. But upon his return to the game, he kept on scoring and was key for Boston on both sides.
Derrick White: 18 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 7-9 FG shooting
Having a player as impactful as White off the bench is a tremendous luxury for the Celtics. He once again had a huge game against Philly, scoring from all over the place and commanding their backup unit with his toughness.
Game notes:
1st half
The defensive matchups for the Sixers went like this: Melton guarded Tatum, Harris took Brown and Embiid took Robert Williams III. The Sixers' defense was abysmal in their recent matchup against the extremely short-handed Celtics. This time, it was much better. Embiid's menacing presence in the middle deterred shot attempts and forced misses. The rotations around him were good, though still not good enough to completely clamp down on Boston.
The Celtics put Horford on Embiid and Smart on Harden, using Williams as a roamer. Harris hit two triples in the first few minutes and scored 12 first-quarter points. P.J. Tucker fought for two offensive boards — one of which led to a Harden three — and notched six total rebounds in the first nine minutes.
Doc Rivers briefly went with a big lineup with Emiib and Harris joined by Georges Niang and Jalen McDaniels as well as Maxey. McDaniels looked pretty solid guarding Tatum but Boston kept pushing thanks to Derrick White and Williams. Boston took a seven-point lead with both bench units (which also featured Brown, Williams and Harden) duking it out. Niang got picked on defensively, a potential foreshadowing of what may come in the playoffs.
Tucker got some more minutes at the five (really just a few possessions) before Embiid came back into the game along with Tatum and Smart. Embiid swatted a Smart layup attempt before scoring a layup. Philly regained the lead when Harris caught an outlet pass from Harden and swung it to the corner to Tucker, who nailed the triple after a pump-fake and a side-step to steer clear of an Al Horford closeout.
The Sixers built their lead up higher with Embiid firing on all cylinders. Embiid had 20 points at the break and Philly led 56-50.
2nd half
Harris scored five points to open up the second half as the Celtics made more of an effort to double-team Embiid. A Harden step-back gave the Sixers a 15-point lead while Boston opened the first few minutes of the half with as many points as they had turnovers (two).
Smart picked up his fourth foul trying to draw a charge on Embiid but his sub, White, still made plays, including a put-back layup off of a rebound from a free throw and an and-one layup. Horford hit FOUR triples in the third quarter to chip away at Boston's deficit. Philly's defense showed tremendous intensity and put together some fantastic sequences of helping, scrambling and recovering but Boston's ball movement and sense of where the open man is sublime.
The Sixers' reserves did not have themselves a good day. With the exception of a few baskets and McDaniels' rangy defense — which Tatum overcame on an off-the-bounce triple that gave Boston the lead back — they contributed nothing. The Celtics roared back to take an eight-point lead.
Embiid subbed back into the game with just under nine minutes left. Brown picked his pocket when he was looking the other way and took it to the house, forcing Philly to call its second timeout in two minutes. Philly fought back to make it a two-point game with four minutes left.
Down by five, Embiid hit a pair of free throws, swished a jumper and forced a miss from Brown. Maxey gave Philly the lead on the ensuing fast break. Then Horford hit another three and Tatum tipped in a miss. Some Harden free-throws made it a two-point game with 21 seconds left.
The Sixers screened for Embiid to get him alone with Brown on the right side of the basket. He drew a shooting foul and made both freebies.
The Celtics gave it to Tatum in the “blind pig” play. Melton couldn't track both him and the ball and Tatum sunk the biggest shot of the night. Embiid made a miraculous heave from the backcourt…after the buzzer.
Random thoughts:
- The environment, as expected, was electric at Wells Fargo Center. The whole place rose to its feet when the participant in the timeout shooting game nailed a half-court shot on his first try.
- There is a basketball theory attributed to Phil Jackson that states any team who wins 40 games before losing 20 is a true championship contender. The Sixers just missed it.
The Sixers will see another potential playoff matchup, the Miami Heat, on Monday before hitting the road.
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