3 observations after Sixers head into deadline on sour note, lose to Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
BOSTON — That is not how the Sixers wanted to head into the trade deadline.
They dropped their second straight game and fell four games behind the No. 1 Celtics on Wednesday night with a 106-99 loss to Boston at TD Garden.
Joel Embiid scored 28 points, James Harden 26.
Malcom Brogdon and Derrick White led Boston in scoring with 19 points apiece.
The deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. The Sixers will then play a back-to-back against two New York opponents — Friday vs. the Knicks and Saturday at the Nets.
Here are observations on their defeat in Boston:
Not your average start
There was plenty of “Don’t see that every night” action in the opening minutes.
Harden banked in a mid-range jumper to give the Sixers a 7-0 lead. He also hit a more conventional jumper in the first quarter and knocked down two free throws to pass Dirk Nowitzki for seventh on the NBA’s all-time made foul shots list.
Blake Griffin scored nine of Boston’s first 11 points and did so exclusively from three-point range. Prior to Wednesday, Griffin had gone 9 for 28 on threes all season. He started because Al Horford (right knee swelling) and Rob Williams (left ankle sprain) were both out.
Grant Williams guarded Embiid and the Celtics sent double teams whenever feasible. Williams is an intelligent, dogged defender, but those qualities didn’t yield great results early. Embiid played the whole first period and scored 14 of the Sixers’ 27 points on 6-for-8 shooting.
Luke Kornet was next up on Embiid, who was happy to take the unbothered jumpers available in that matchup. The Sixers’ spacing around their stars wasn’t always crisp, but the Celtics’ early turnovers helped in terms of the team not needing to grind out half-court bucket after bucket.
Embiid not a fan of officiating
One downside for Embiid was that the officials tended to stay silent on borderline foul calls.
Story continues
That contributed to Embiid’s second stint being worse than his first. He was frustrated when he missed a jumper when Williams’…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/sixers-celtics-sixers-fall-boston-030600548.html?src=rss
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2023-02-09 03:06:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
