Instant observations: Bad matchups, worse execution sink Sixers in Game 1 blowout loss to Celtics

It remains to be seen whether or not the Sixers currently have the talent level necessary to seriously challenge the Boston Celtics in their seven-game first-round series. For now, that much is out of their control. But in Game 1, it was abundantly clear that the Sixers could not execute and focus at the requisite level to compete at Boston’s level. That much was at least partly in their control.

The Sixers’ performance on Sunday afternoon in Boston was one of their worst of the season, even when considering the competition level. They never found a way to stop doing themselves in, with repeated miscues on defense making a horrid offensive showing look even more ugly.

On the other side, Boston looked incredibly prepared for everything the Sixers had to offer. Jayson Tatum was particularly dominant, posting 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in 32 minutes. Jaylen Brown added 26 points; the Celtics’ two star wings spearheaded a starting five featuring five double-digit scorers.

The Sixers never led. For about 40 of the 48 minutes they played, they trailed by at least 10 points. They set an awful tone for the series, and the closest they came to showing any semblance of spirit was a brief push early in the third quarter which they immediately followed up by making another slew of avoidable mistakes.

Takeaways from a Sixers loss, 123-91, in which they were entirely outclassed in every respect:

Sixers set an awful tone for the series

It has been difficult to imagine the Sixers upending the Celtics ever since this matchup was set in stone. But it did feel as if any scenario in which the Sixers gave Boston a run for its money included an early haymaker, a tone-setting game, sequence or moment that established the Sixers as worthy competitors.

Instead, the Sixers set just about the worst time they could early on in Game 1. Starting center Adem Bona picked up a foul on the first defensive possession of the game, then Paul George made an ill-advised pass to trigger Bona as the lead man of a fastbreak. Bona, who has little to no ball skills, charged into Sam Hauser and picked his second foul. Moments later, backup Andre Drummond joined him on the bench with a pair of fouls.

Hauser, one of the league’s best three-point shooters, was left open beyond the arc twice and made the Sixers pay both times. One defensive miscommunication netted Derrick White an open triple; another breakdown led to an open Brown layup.

The Sixers will not be remotely competitive in this series if they do not execute with precision. Their very first playoff quarter of what will at least be 16 was ominous – and it never got much better. The Sixers briefly made inroads on Boston’s lead in the third quarter before making another batch of unforced errors to bury their own grave:

Offensive and defensive struggles become one 

To be clear, when a team faces the sort of talent disadvantage the Sixers are looking at as they begin this series, facing a stacked Boston team with arguably the best coaching in the NBA, there is no plan – simple or complex – that will guarantee a competitive game or series. But after three days of preparation ahead of this seven-game series with the Celtics, the Sixers looked completely unprepared for what they were going up against.

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse does not have tremendous options. But as the Sixers fell behind early, his offense lacked creativity. It was maybe not quite as bad as the box score at halftime looked – the Sixers scored 46 points prior to intermission, shooting 16-for-48 from the field, 2-for-16 from three-point range and 12-for-17 on free throws – but it was not a whole lot better.

Time and time again, the Sixers’ offensive possessions devolved into the same thing: a screen to create a one-on-one isolation, with the hope that whichever player had the ball – typically Tyrese Maxey – would figure it out from there. That is not a viable strategy to begin with, let alone when the team doing it is not even generating favorable matchups to attack.

Maxey, whose pull-up three-point shooting remains problematic in the wake of his finger injury – he was clearly grabbing at it in some pain during the first quarter – could never experience real freedom. Boston bottled him up, not only with plenty of strong individual defenders but with the rightful confidence that multiple players could be committed to him on any given possession, with minimal risk of someone else burning the Celtics.

And, per the usual, the Sixers’ issues on each end of the floor compounded. They were not solid at all on defense, which allowed Boston to score at will and then set their defense. The Sixers will need significant production as a transition offense to compete in this series, and they will not reach it without getting stops. Kelly Oubre Jr. had a nightmarish game, struggling to knock down open three-point looks and failing to stay in front of Brown or Tatum on derives.

Disastrous center minutes

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has spent much of this season striking the best balance he can between the young, athletic center Bona and his mentor, the bruising veteran Drummond. Both were excellent in Wednesday’s Play-In Tournament victory.

Bona started that night, but Drummond logged 31 minutes and was one of the stars of the game. Nurse, who has leaned on matchups – or, frankly, has simply tried to stay away from disastrous matchups – will need to protect Bona from being physically overmatched on the glass and protect Drummond from being exposed as a vulnerable defender on the perimeter.

Given that Boston’s starting center is Neemias Queta – a strong force but a non-shooter – and Queta is backed up by multiple stretch fives, it stood to reason that Drummond would get this start, matching him up with Queta and enabling Bona to spend more time on the floor when the Celtics force the Sixers to guard in space. 

Perhaps Queta’s monster game against Drummond last month lingered in Nurse’s mind, because he ended up starting Bona over Drummond on Sunday. It did not end up mattering much, as Bona’s two fouls inside of two minutes forced Drummond into the action early. Queta also entered early foul trouble, though, so old friend Nikola Vučević checked in and immediately became a threat to space the floor. Then Drummond picked up one foul on each end of the floor, too, and suddenly Dominick Barlow was playing small-ball five. Back in the game early in the second quarter with his team already trailing by 19 points, Drummond, often credited as a strong veteran presence for a group that has gotten younger in recent years, stopped a Sixers possession by picking up a technical foul.

Bona, who had never played in the NBA Playoffs before Sunday, is going to have to give the Sixers quality minutes for them to be competitive in this series. The same is true for Drummond. Nurse has made this point several times since Joel Embiid’s emergency appendectomy.

So, perhaps overanalyzing the matchups is not worthwhile at this point, but Nurse did pivot to starting Drummond in the second half on Sunday – and the Sixers will need every marginal advantage they can find to win this series. They got none of them on Sunday.

Odds and ends

Some additional notes:

• Perhaps in part because Barlow had to slide up from power forward to center unexpectedly, Justin Edwards retuned to Nurse’s rotation. A playoff rookie, Edwards will likely be needed at various points in this series as a wing defender. Nurse trusts Edwards on both ends of the floor. He knocked down a triple on his first shot – as he has trained himself to do – and quickly followed it up with a basket through contact on the offensive glass. He missed four shots in a row after that, but the Sixers at least can use Edwards’ quick trigger on threes.

• In the final minutes of the Celtics’ dominant victory, fans in Boston chanted “WE WANT BOSTON,” mocking the Sixers fans who chanted the same after their team beat the Orlando Magic last week to lock in this series. 

• As questions about Embiid persist, the status quo remains in tact, as ESPN sideline reporter Jorge Sedano spoke to pregame: Embiid has no timetable to return, he is still recovering from his procedure not even two weeks ago and has yet to return to basketball activity. Embiid has not been officially ruled out of this entire series, but it would almost certainly have to go very long for the former NBA MVP to even have a chance of getting on the floor.

Up next: Game 2 of this first-round series will be on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

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