Sixers at Celtics: Sixers fall in Boston, head into trade deadline on sour note
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 Dont 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 NBAs all-time made foul shots list.
Blake Griffin scored nine of Bostons 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 didnt 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 wasnt 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.
That contributed to Embiids second stint being worse than his first. He was frustrated when he missed a jumper and Williams contact was deemed legal. The Celtics lead soon grew to 12 points on a Jayson Tatum triple. Boston began 9 for 13 from three, while the Sixers started just 2 for 10.
As far as tolerating complaints, the officials were less lenient. Embiid was assessed a technical with 3:30 left in the second quarter after scoring inside through Williams and making sure everyone knew he felt hed been fouled again.
Thirty-nine seconds later, Embiid got the and-one hed desired by rolling hard off of a pick-and-roll with Harden and tossing in an over-the-shoulder make. The Sixers threw a couple of effective blitzes at Tatum, Harden finished the second quarter well, and the Sixers only trailed by four at halftime. Jaylen Browns night ended with 1:27 remaining in the second after he suffered a facial contusion and was officially ruled out at halftime. Brogdon replaced him as a second-half starter.
Boston benefited from a giant edge beyond the arc (19 made threes on a 52.6 percent clip to the Sixers’ 10), but the full-strength Sixers will still feel they should’ve beaten a team missing several key players. Instead, the best they can do in the season series now is splitting by winning both games in Philadelphia.
Turning to Thybulle in fourth
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers did not roll out all-bench lineups or give his second-unit players tons of important minutes.
Still, though it was not as extreme as Sundays loss to the Knicks, the Sixers bench was again not a team strength through three quarters. Boston had a 41-21 total bench scoring advantage in the game. A seriously off Tyrese Maxey game (3 for 14 from the floor) obviously hurt matters.
Before the fourth quarter, Matisse Thybulle had played just 90 seconds and committed two fouls. Rivers switched things up rather dramatically with the Sixers desperate for a momentum swing, and the team looked dangerous at times with Thybulle defending Tatum and the collective defensive activity elevated. Rivers preferred him over Tobias Harris, who, like Maxey, had a nightmarish shooting performance and scored just four points.
Thybulle wound up playing over eight straight minutes and made a three that cut the Sixers’ deficit to 98-94. We shall see whether or not he remains a Sixer through the deadline.
White came through with several tremendous plays, which was a huge factor in compensating for Tatum’s subpar production and Boston’s injuries. He had a crowd-thrilling recovery block on Harris, drained a pivotal three over Harden, and helped give the Celtics a very good win.
