The 76ers got blown out, what happened?
The Sixers just wrapped up their game a few minutes ago, and damn it was a rough one. Tonight was filled with the Celtics not missing, and the Sixers' not being able to buy a single basket. Tonight's matchup was supposed to be an exciting division rival game, but it was nothing but underwhelming. Tonight's final score was 135-87.
The Celtics came out from the jump hitting every shot they took. They ended the first half shooting almost 80% from 3. The Sixers on the other hand couldn't get going. They ended the first half shooting 34% and 27% from 3.
Embiid seemed to let his frustrations out in the second quarter as he threw down a monster jam. That play inspired the Sixers to start cutting at the Celtics large lead but unfortunately, the Sixers couldn't be consistent, and Boston took huge advantage of that. The Celtics kept up their hot shooting streak tonight and it wouldn't stop.
The only positive I can take away from this game is that Paul Millsap and Paul Reed outhustled every single person on the court with the playing time that they got. When Millsap, and reed shared the floor together in the 4th quarter, they brought energy right away by pulling down a few offensive rebounds in a row and then making a corner three.
The Sixers offense was brutal, especially in the first quarter of tonight's game. Matisse Thybulle was throwing up brick after brick. Thybulle finished this game with one single point. he also shot 0-6 from 3. In no realistic scenario should Matisse Thybulle be allowed to take that many 3's. It seemed like the offensive strategy was to get Joel Embiid to the line, and that was the only way we were scoring points in the first. I will give credit to Boston's strong defense tonight as they forced Joel Embiid into a few bad turnovers that could've had some really good opportunities.
The main takeaway tonight is that we desperately need to get James Harden suited up and on the court as soon as possible. As much as I would love to sit here and pick out every single negative thing about this game, we need to look into the future. I don't believe we should be in panic mode after losing a random regular season game in February.
On the bright side, we have James Harden coming soon. I will tell you that we have a much better team with him on the floor. I can also tell you that the Celtics will never have a shooting game like that ever again. It just so happens that it was against the 76ers. When Harden finally comes onto the floor and plays we will see a much better team, and a team who looks like they want to win a championship.
Tune in on Thursday night as the Sixers take on their last opponent before the All-Star break. The Sixers will be traveling to Milwaukee as they take on the Bucks at 8:30 PM.