Sixers lose heartbreaker in Boston
The 76ers dropped their first game to the Boston Celtics in over a year Wednesday night, losing 88-87.
Nasty basketball was played. Shooting splits and turnover ratios look abysmal. A game which had on offensive flow from the 1980s, was not enjoyable to watch.
Joel Embiid was very silent offensivley, only scoring 13 points. It is very clear he is still recovering from Covid-19, as he did not look like himself tonight.
Seth Curry led the Sixers in scoring tonight, which is something we are accustomed to seeing. He had 17 points, shooting 54% from the field.
The Celtics leading scorer was Jayson Tatum, with 26. Tatum only shot 45% from the floor, but grabbed an astonishing 16 rebounds.
There are lots of things that can be said in more detail about this game so let's not waste any time:
Glenn Rivers is not suited to be an NBA coach
Let's cut to the chase. This isn't breaking news, I am sure everyone knows this, but Doc has been putrid for the last seven months. His rotations has always been a flaw of his and tonight did not disappoint.
Seems like every week we can play a game called "which bench player will doc totally disregard this game?" or better yet, "over/under eight minutes with the all bench unit"
Furkan Korkmaz was really hot to start the season, now he is putting up zero points in six minutes of action.
Frankly, this is something we will just have to deal with. We have been dealing with it for his entire tenure, but the blame isn't entirely on Doc, just most of it.
Tobias Harris should be first on the trade list, not Simmons.
Tobias has not been good at all this season. You may look at his stats and see his 20 ppg, but his shooting splits are atrocious, his shot selection is even worse, his passing vision is very subpar, same with his defense.
Time after time, Harris kills the Sixers momentum with either a terrible shot or a terrible pass.
Tonight, he couldn't even beat Al Horford off the dribble. Yes, the same Al Horford who is one ankle roll away from a retirement home in the suburbs of south Florida.
If I am Daryl Morey, I am putting Ben negotiations on hold, start picking up the phone and take every call about Tobias.
Tyrese Maxey is in a "bad" slump...
When half the team was out with Covid, we saw Maxey play some of his best ball. It has definitely been a learning curve for him the last couple of games.
Maxey is now shooting less than 30% from the floor the last week.
A lot of this has to do with Glenn Rivers putting him at the dunkers spot offensively. Which is a very dire move, considering he isn't Ben Simmons, who would usually be in that spot.
For Tyrese, we shouldn't be too worried. This is just a December slump. It's a long season and he will get back on track. We should be more concerned about how he is being used incorrectly in the offense.