Observations after Sixers lose preseason finale in OT, Embiid posts 27 points originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Time for the real games to begin.
The Sixers concluded their preseason Friday night by falling to a 125-120 overtime loss to the Celtics at Xfinity Mobile Arena. They’ll next play the defending champion Knicks on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in their regular-season opener.
Joel Embiid had 27 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the preseason finale.
Tyrese Maxey added 22 points and six assists. Jaylen Brown scored 20 points and grabbed eight boards.
The Sixers were without the following players:
- Anfernee Simons (hamstring)
- Adem Bona (left foot sprain)
- Dominick Barlow (back)
- Ariel Hukporti (right Achilles tendon tear)
- Tacko Fall (left hip sprain)
- VJ Edgecombe
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame that Edgecombe has no injury issue and the team was satisfied with him playing the first three preseason games.
The Celtics sat many of their regular players. Former Sixers assistant coach Sam Cassell led Boston instead of Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla.
Here are observations on the Sixers’ final action of the preseason:
Offense finding its footing
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope replaced Edgecombe in the Sixers’ starting lineup.
The Sixers’ offense did not begin in top gear. The team missed its first nine three-point tries and had several out-of-sync sequences that caused turnovers.
Still, the Sixers showed a few of their many plausible paths to elite offense this season.
They created some good shots in the first quarter by feeding the post, drawing a double team, and then spraying the ball around against a scrambling defense. The Sixers also racked up heaps of early free throws and ended up taking nine foul shots before the Celtics had any.
Of course, the Sixers expect to do great damage in transition. LeBron James sprinted forward after a first-quarter steal and then slammed home a Maxey lob in crowd-pleasing style.
James continued to flash his unique array of talents. His second-quarter highlights included an and-one layup off of a pick-and-roll with Maxey and multiple fantastic long-distance passes. The home fans were excited by all of it, even lifting the volume when it appeared James might pull off a chase-down block.
Over 25 minutes, James tallied eight points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Far sharper Embiid
Embiid committed three turnovers in the first quarter. He’d had eight in his other game of the preseason, a loss last week to the Nets.
Overall, Embiid’s showing was much, much less rusty.
The seven-time All-Star settled into a rhythm in the second quarter and wasn’t remotely hesitant about playing through contact in the paint. He drove hard and jammed in a third-quarter dunk, too.
Teammate after teammate has glowed about how Embiid’s looked at training camp following a healthy summer. The Sixers will hope that translates to a strong start for Embiid and, most importantly, consistent availability in the season ahead.
Changes coming off the bench
Nurse used five bench players in the first half. Labaron Philon Jr., Dean Wade, Jabari Walker, Justin Edwards and two-way contract player Rayan Rupert were in the rotation.
Brown was the last Sixer starter on the floor, exiting at the 7:51 mark of the fourth quarter. Maxey, James, Brown and Embiid each logged between 25 and 31 minutes.
The Sixers and Celtics’ deep bench players were dead even down the stretch. Philon (11 points, six assists) hit a late, tightly guarded three and Dillon Jones made a go-ahead, and-one layup. However, Edwards missed a game-winning jumper attempt at the fourth-quarter buzzer. Boston got the job done in overtime.
The second unit will presumably be different for the opener, but the specifics remain to be seen. If he’s healthy, Simons projects to take either all or most of Philon’s minutes. Bona would give the Sixers a traditional backup center in New York and he’d likely spend time facing former teammate Andre Drummond. Walker and Wade are alternative center options, but neither is the Sixers’ Plan A at the five.
Barlow, Simons and Bona were significant absences for the Sixers this preseason. Once they return, we’ll see how quickly they can integrate into a new-look Sixers team.
