Quite than experience the momentum of a second straight street win, the Celtics left Philadelphia reflecting on a missed alternative on Tuesday night time.
Hours earlier than tip-off, phrase broke that 76ers star Joel Embiid would sit out Philadelphia’s rivalry matchup with Boston attributable to proper knee soreness, giving the Celtics a direct benefit. However as a substitute of capitalizing on the absence of the previous league MVP, Boston stumbled within the clutch, highlighted by a pair of pricey performs that encapsulated the staff’s lingering deficiencies and led to a gut-wrenching 102-100 loss at Xfinity Cell Enviornment.
The decisive second got here on the ultimate possession when a play initially designed for Jaylen Brown went awry. Derrick White inbounded the ball to Brown, who, double-teamed by Philadelphia, was pressured to return it to White on the high of the perimeter. Guarded by Andre Drummond, White misplaced management of the ball and compelled a 38-foot desperation shot that Neemias Queta almost tipped in to ship the sport into extra time.
With 2.9 seconds left and a past-prime Drummond in his face, White was fast to shoulder blame for the devastating ending.
“JB acquired two guys on him, hit me, after which I misplaced it — I rushed it there on the finish,” White stated. “I don’t know why. I had extra time than I assumed I did there.”
Boston acquired off to a sluggish begin, capturing a depressing 4-for-21 from three (19.0%) and 14-for-50 from the sphere (28%) by halftime. That left the Celtics with loads of work to do, however they responded within the second half, outscoring the Sixers 36-20 and considerably enhancing their field-goal capturing to 65.2%, making 15 of 23 makes an attempt to climb again into the sport.
However the comeback bid, valiant because it was, nonetheless fell quick.
As a substitute of getting the rug pulled out by rookie V.J. Edgecombe once more, second-year ahead Justin Edwards torched the Celtics from past the arc, ending with a team-high and season-best 22 factors. He went 5-of-6 from three, including three rebounds, three assists, and a steal, taking part in 27 minutes off the bench. By his first eight video games this season, Edwards had by no means scored in double figures for Philadelphia — till Tuesday night time.
The Celtics held a 92-84 lead within the fourth quarter with six minutes remaining earlier than Edwards went on a 9-0 run himself in a span of 1:18 to get the Sixers again on high with a 93-92 lead.
In hindsight, all the things that went mistaken could be traced to 1 easy issue within the eyes of Boston’s locker room: execution.
“It’s no totally different than the remainder of the sport — your execution,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla stated. “Whether or not it’s transition protection, whether or not it’s fouling, whether or not it’s executing on the offensive finish — all these issues are the identical. It comes right down to who could make performs. They made the final play, and we didn’t.”
Seconds earlier than Boston’s do-or-die possession, a wide-open three fell to Edwards, and although he missed, Sixers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. swooped in to seize the offensive rebound and put again the game-winning basket.
Brown each deserted his task of guarding Edwards and acquired boxed out by Oubre on the essential possession.
“(Tyrese) Maxey was driving, he turned his again — I assumed I may go make a play,” Brown recalled. “I used to be guarding (Edwards). I assumed that if I went to go make a play, there wouldn’t be sufficient time to get a shot off, however I ended up leaving (Edwards) broad open for a 3. Then I used to be type of like, ‘F—,’ and Oubre slipped behind me for a simple offensive rebound. I acquired caught ball-watching. You simply gotta get in there and get within the combat.”
Boston squandered its grit, third-quarter surge, and Jordan Walsh’s newest stepping-stone efficiency — all in simply 22.6 seconds. Walsh contributed eight factors off the bench, grabbed seven rebounds, and added two steals, most impressively holding Maxey to 1-of-4 capturing on possessions the place he defended the All-Star guard.
It wasn’t an ideal 48 minutes by any stretch, however the Celtics nonetheless gave themselves a combating likelihood with the ball of their palms within the make-or-break second — actually.
“I feel we’re gonna be in a variety of shut video games this 12 months,” White stated. “There are undoubtedly issues we will study from and develop from, however we’ve acquired to begin successful a few of them.”
