Feb 20, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) drives against Philadelphia 76ers guard Quentin Grimes (5) during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Fresh off the All-Star break, the Sixers made as many threes as Payton Pritchard did in a blowout loss to the visiting Boston Celtics.
Here's what I saw.
- It ended before 9:15, local time.
- It wasn't the worst first quarter of defense the Sixers have played in their last five games, but that did not make it any less perplexing. Philadelphia had the entire All-Star break to study this matchup. They had two days of practice leading into this game. They know what the Celtics do. There was no excuse for the volume of defensive mistakes around the perimeter. Boston made eight of its 12 three-point attempts in the first quarter.
Now, there is something to be said for how great the Celtics are at what they do. But, there were basic communications on screens that were botched. If two guys are tagging the big, that means the ball-handler is open. No good.
- Paul George by and large had a good first half on offense, but he's not quite slick enough to go unnoticed on the nonsense he pulled at the end of the first quarter. He had a clean look at a near halfcourt shot with two seconds left in the frame, but passed the ball forward to Kelly Oubre Jr. for a slightly closer but contested look from three at the buzzer. Preserving those shooting percentages is shameful work!
- Andre Drummond apparently earned the first crack at the minutes in relief of Joel Embiid in this game. He committed two three-second violations in five-and-a-half minutes of play. That is outrageous for a veteran big. There are techniques for counting the time to avoid that. Unacceptable level of focus coming out of the All-Star break.
- Anyone want to guard Pritchard?
- This team is running an offense that assumes Embiid is not compromised. I didn't have much issue with his decision-making in this game. But, his mobility is clearly limited. As such, Embiid can play with only so much force. Yet, the base of this team's offense is hunting the mismatch on him in the post and face-up. It's on Nick Nurse to recognize that the ball has to flow another way.
Brutal shooting was one of the factors that most held the offense back in this game. But, the process they're following only works if the fulcrum can play at a reasonable facsimile of his best self. He cannot at this time. So, the focus cannot be to simply play through Embiid.
- Going zone against the Celtics at any point while the game is competitive is grounds for an automatic performance review of the head coach. Don't need a fortune-teller to figure out how that one's going to play out.
- With each passing home game, there's an increasingly louder contingent of supporters for the visiting team. This team has fallen so dramatically that the locals cannot even be summoned for rival games against the visiting Celtics or New York Knicks. The Sixers should take a hard look around their building.
The Sixers (20-35) will host the Brooklyn Nets (20-34) on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Eastern time. You can catch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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