The Philadelphia 76ers have put up a valiant effort in the past two games against the Boston Celtics. One resulted in a win, and one a competitive loss. This series is obviously not over, and the Sixers have proved they can, at the very least, compete with the Celtics. But a lack of reliable bench bodies will make things progressively more difficult as the series drags on, and Game 3 was a glaring example of that.
Center Andre Drummond was awesome off the bench, scoring 12 points and hitting two huge 3-pointers when the Sixers needed them badly. The other two guys who came off the bench, Quentin Grimes and Justin Edwards, scored a combined two points.
That's a problem for a few reasons. For starters, it causes the Sixers starters to play 40-plus minutes per game, like four guys did on Friday. The problem isn't that the Sixers starters are bad (they've all pitched in this series, in fact), the problem is this makes the offense somewhat predictable when there isn't anyone on the bench who can provide different looks.
If the Sixers offense goes stagnant, Nick Nurse doesn't have many options he can turn to. He just has to hope the guys on the court can produce some offense on their own.
Sixers' lack of depth might haunt them against Celtics
It's not just that the Sixers have limited depth, it's that the Celtics seem to have unlimited depth. Joe Mazzulla played 10 guys on Friday night, and his bench unit gave him 35 points. Being able to rest his stars and not assume things will fall apart when they're on the bench is a luxury that Nick Nurse just doesn't have.
Game 3 is tough to swallow because the Sixers, by all intents, played a good game. They shot the 3-pointer well enough, they won the turnover battle, they defended well. Those things not being enough to propel them to a victory doesn't feel good, and it's due in large part to just not having enough bodies.
Does Nick Nurse throw some guys out there in Game 4 just to see if anyone brings a spark? Could Trendon Watford get a look? Is there an answer on this bench, or do the Sixers just need their stars to be superhuman the rest of the way?
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