The Sixers were back in full playoff form — in all the worst ways — Monday night.
The Sixers are back, baby. Monday night’s Game 1 loss to Boston had all the hallmarks of a disappointing Sixers playoff performance — high turnover numbers, poor shot creation down the stretch, a fatigued Joel Embiid, and a few valid criticisms of Brett Brown to put the cherry on top.
Despite a slew of concerns, however, the Sixers only lost by eight and were up four heading into the final quarter. The Sixers had a very real chance to win this game, and even if the closing effort was subpar, there are reasons for optimism. It’s only Game 1.
Philadelphia did have a clear size advantage, and Embiid recognizes his need to do more as the Sixers’ lead scorer. Philadelphia also managed to limit turnovers in the second half, which led to a surprisingly sturdy third quarter performance.
If the Sixers can trim the turnover numbers, find Embiid more regularly in the post, and start to finding ways to generate points in crunch time, a series win is not entirely out of the question. Don’t count me among the full-fledged optimists — I still think Boston will win, even if Gordon Hayward misses time — but it’s not hard to see a path to victory.
Here’s what we learned on Monday.
3. The rotation is short
Brett Brown used a nine-man rotation, but he virtually cut the rotation to seven in the second half. On the game, Furkan Korkmaz tallied seven minutes and Mike Scott played only two. The other two reserves — Alec Burks and Matisse Thybulle — played 27 and 32, respectively.
This is a bit concerning, as the Sixers will definitely feel the effects of playing only seven players such heavy minutes. Boston’s bench isn’t great, but the Sixers would presumably like to go more than seven deep without finding themselves in significant trouble.
The problem, of course, is neither Korkmaz nor Scott are built for success in this series. This is where the Sixers really feel the absence of not only Ben Simmons, but of Glenn Robinson III, who could miss the entire series — if not a large chunk of it.
Keep tabs on Raul Neto, who despite his defensive limitations could be brought in to uplift the stagnant halfcourt offense. Philadelphia struggled with turnovers and with making even the most basic entry passes to initiate the offense on Monday. Neto can help in that regard.
Until then, and until Robinson gets healthy, Brown will continue to skate on thin ice. Both Thybulle and Burks are essential to Philadelphia’s success — more essential than some of the starters, even — but to have only two functional bench pieces is a death sentence for a team as easily burned out as Philadelphia.
2. The defense is a mess
The Sixers had some good and some bad on the defensive end Monday night.
Josh Richardson and Matisse Thybulle fell on the good end of the spectrum. While neither was perfect, both were tasked with Boston’s two most challenging assignments — Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker — and did a respectable job shadowing both. Tatum led all scorers with 32, but Thybulle and Richardson didn’t let him cruise there unimpeded.
Also positive was Joel Embiid, who made some generally nice plays protecting the rim. Philadelphia’s drop coverage — which had Embiid essentially camped out in the paint all night — was mostly ineffective, but Embiid was solid individually.
That drop coverage, however, may not last long. While Daniel Theis is a minimal threat from deep, not having Embiid (or Horford) anywhere near the 3-point line too often allows Kemba Walker to dribble into wide-open pull-up jumpers. Not the ideal outcome, and one Walker is bound to take advantage of if Philadelphia doesn’t make a change.
Generally sparking, the Celtics did a good job of forcing switches and then taking advantage. It’s why Korkmaz was only on the floor for seven minutes. Some of Walker’s open 3s came after getting Horford on the switch, then immediately losing him on a screen. Tatum, despite good efforts from Richardson and Thybulle, was automatic for stretches. Marcus Smart did well when bigs were switched onto him as well.
Boston is great at generating favorable matchups and taking advantage. When the starting lineups already feature favorable matchups out of the gate — such as Horford defending Brown — it’s difficult to slow the Celtics down for 48 minutes.
Brett Brown will need to adjust.
1. The offense must step up through Embiid
On the surface, Embiid’s numbers were fine. He scored 26 points on 15 shot attempts, made nine of his 12 free throws, and swallowed 16 rebounds. When you did deeper, however, it’s the number of shot attempts — just 15 — that is most egregious.
This is partially on Embiid, partially on his teammates, and partially on Brett Brown. But under no circumstances should Embiid not lead the Sixers in shot attempts per game. Richardson led Philadelphia with 17, while two other Sixers — Harris and Burks — also registered 15 attempts.
The Sixers went away from Embiid entirely down the stretch, which is when the offense stalled and Boston pulled away. Philadelphia should make every effort to work through and around Embiid in the post — no one collapses a defense quite like Embiid.
On the other hand, Embiid has to be more aggressive. And he has to be smart with his aggression. Embiid recorded five of the Sixers’ 18 turnovers. After an impressive display of patience and passing when faced with double teams in the seeding games, Embiid was back to a more reckless, careless disposition in Game 1. He cannot spin directly into a wide-armed Marcus Smart and expect good things to happen.
In order for Embiid to effectively carry the Sixers, he needs to know when to attack his matchup, and when to locate the open shooter. But, in general, he needs to take more than 15 shot attempts, and the Sixers cannot ignore him down the stretch — even if Boston is tuned in to Embiid’s tendencies.
Of course, one cannot ignore fatigue. Part of the reason Embiid didn’t touch the ball late — and partially to blame even for his turnovers — is the fact that Embiid was visibly tired for stretches on Monday night. He played 37 minutes, and will need to get used to a similarly heavy workload in future contests if Philadelphia is to win this series.