BOSTON — The Celtics were dealt a deflating blow to begin their Eastern Conference semifinals matchup with the 76ers on Monday night.
Granted, this one was solely on them.
With news of Joel Embiid’s absence breaking over an hour before tipoff in Game 1, the Celtics were already at an advantage. They didn’t need to worry about guarding one of the league’s biggest front-court threats and they had home-court advantage, leaving Philadelphia cornered to figure out how they’d adapt against a healthy Celtics team. The picture-perfect scenario, right? Well, not exactly.
The 76ers looked hungrier, most notably in the second half, hanging around until the very end and handing the Celtics a gut-wrenching 119-115 loss. Philadelphia also left the Celtics looking back with some regret, reflecting on areas in which they could improve to prevent a repeat in Game 2.
“I have to be better, I gotta be better,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Just certain play callings, get our spacing right. That’s an area I’ll definitely get better at. … We just have to do a good job of showing help, being shifted and getting back. Guarding their role guys better, especially in the second unit, whether it’s (De’Anthony) Melton or (Georges) Niang, not giving them open looks.”
The Celtics fell into a lackadaisical rhythm at the worst possible time, allowing the 76ers to shoot 9-of-18 in the final frame, which also included four successful 3-point attempts, not to mention to nail-in-the-coffin, courtesy of James Harden’s 45-point masterpiece.
“I think at times we were caught in between the two-on-one, where we could’ve shot it and had a good look but tried to get a great look,” Mazzulla explained. “And sometimes in situations like that when we’re scrambling, you just can’t pass up good looks. So it’s a little bit on me and it’s a little bit of just we gotta have the freedom to just shoot the ball, knock down open shots.”
Boston also made its biggest, and most costly, mistake in the fourth quarter. After playing hot potato with the ball, guard Malcolm Brogdon committed a brutal turnover with no time left on the shot clock, allowing Tyrese Maxey to cakewalk his way to a go-ahead layup.
That play was simply a testament to the overall issue of allowing the 76ers to gain momentum through scoring opportunities resulting from Boston’s mistakes. Philadelphia scored 20 points off 16 Celtics turnovers, leaving no room for regret on its end and plenty on Boston’s.
“The last three or four minutes, we couldn’t get stops,” Brogdon said. “… Honestly we didn’t get stops all night long. That’s really the answer. We didn’t get the stops we needed. We played good initial defense and had some type of breakdown for a layup or an open three. I don’t think we came out in the second half the right way. Came out, played a little bit sloppy, a few turnovers. They had a few easy baskets in the third quarter to get them going so we gotta start and finish quarters better.”
