Playoff games rarely get decided in the first quarter, but that was basically the story for the Philadelphia 76ers in the opening game of their first round series against the Boston Celtics. The hosts quickly mounted a 15-point lead at the end of the first quarter, never looking back and burying the visitors deep in the second half.
The main culprit for the 76ers? Three-point shooting. Philly shot just 4-23 or 17.4 percent from three-point range, which is basically a death sentence against a team widely known for their acumen from beyond the arc like Boston. In comparison, the Celtics shot 16-44 from rainbow country. All in all, they outscored the 76ers by 36 from the three-point line.
With Philadelphia losing the math game so hard right from the get go, people will naturally become more skeptical about their chances of staging an upset. Having said that, it is good that this happened at the beginning, in Game 1, which allows the coaching staff and the players to make the necessary adjustments.
The 76ers have no chance if their three-point shooting does not pan out
Joel Embiid is already sidelined, which takes away an obvious edge the 76ers would have had over the Celtics. Now, they are basically forced to trying to beat Boston in their own game, which is a tall, but necessary task if they want a realistic shot at advancing to the Conference Semifinals.
Over the course of the regular season, the 76ers did not fare well in all three-point shooting metrics. They were 21st in attempts per outing, 22nd in conversions on the average, and just 23rd in success rate from beyond the arc. As such, it is easy to see why the Celtics –– a team which ranked fourth and third on attempts and makes, respectively –– are favored heavily in this series.
Boston is pretty dogmatic in its offensive approach, so the 76ers cannot afford to just pray that the Celtics suddenly become trigger-shy. They will have to try to match Boston's volume from beyond the arc, and the 76ers do have a slew of guys who can get hot from downtown.
Getting into sets quicker and initiating drive-and-kick actions will be key for Philly. That they were only able to generate 23 attempts from beyond the arc in a playoff game in 2026 is a recipe for disaster. Thankfully for them, the series has just begun, and there is still time for them to recognize this stylistic deficit and try to make up for it.
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