The Boston Celtics fell to the Philadelphia 76ers in an ugly season opener at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday, but it wasn’t all bad.
Before the Celtics welcome the Toronto Raptors to TD Garden on Friday night, let’s take one more look back at Wednesday’s opener and highlight what Celtics fans should be taking away from the 107-93 loss.
Negatives
“Do you want the good news first? Or the bad?” Our answer typically is “the bad,” so let’s begin with the negatives.
Yes, there was a lot of them, but this was Game 1 of 82, so let’s not fall into the opening night overreaction trap.
— Kemba Walker was off.
Whether he was pressing or not, Walker was just 4-of-18 from the floor for 12 points. He was a team-low minus-16 in 34 minutes. Sixers rookie Matisse Thybulle, arguably the best defender in the 2019 class, did a great job when he was matched up with Walker, something defenders rarely are able to say.
— It simply was a poor shooting night for the Celtics, not just Walker.Â
Boston shot 36.7 percent from the floor and 26.9 percent from deep. The 76ers present one of the NBA’s toughest defensive units, creating a brutal matchup for the Celtics. They came with everything we assumed and more Wednesday, specifically in the second half.
— Free throw shooting.
The Celtics shot 20-of-34 from the charity stripe (yikes). Enes Kanter, a career 77.8 percent free throw shooter, was just 2-of-7 to lead Boston’s free throw woes.
— Lack of ball movement.
The Celtics assisted on just 18 of their 33 made field goals. That number did rise in the second half, but for the majority of this one, Boston didn’t move the ball all that well. Credit some of that to Philly’s length, however.
— Jaylen Brown’s foul trouble.
Brown picked up his fifth personal foul prior to the midway point of the third quarter. Not great.
PositivesÂ
— Gordon Hayward.
This one was obvious. Hayward had a game-high 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting with five rebounds, scoring 20 of his 25 in the second half. Boston ran its offense through the 29-year-old on multiple occasions down the stretch when Walker and Tatum struggled to find a rhythm. If Hayward can become a consistent, high-volume scorer for Boston, it’ll make Brad Stevens’ job significantly easier.
Hayward was confident and aggressive getting to the hoop, something he rarely showed during the 2018-19 season.
— Robert Williams was solid off the bench.
The second-year big played just under 11 minutes, but was the only Celtic with a positive net rating (plus-23.5). Williams collected seven points, three rebounds, one block and one steal in what was an impressively consistent performance on both ends of the floor.
— Boston’s aggressiveness against a much bigger lineup was encouraging.
The Celtics came out with some very tough perimeter defense, causing first-half headaches for the Sixers. Yes, Philly hurt itself with some poor shot selection, but all-around, the Celtics’ aggressiveness created some opportunities for them on the offensive end. Yes, it led to some foul trouble, but this game was a rock fight, so that was rather fitting.
Boston was set on getting to the hoop as well, which led to 34 trips to the line. Of course, it would have been better to knock down those free ones, but considering the Celtics struggled to get to the line last season, Wednesday was a positive development.
— You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse matchup for the Celtics than the 76ers.
Philadelphia’s size, length and talent go a very long way against Boston’s small roster. It’ll only get easier for the Celtics against other opponents around the league (thankfully they only face the Los Angeles Clippers twice).
