Celtics (0-0) at Sixers (0-0) Game #1 10/23/19

[LilRip]

The game went as I thought it would - except for the poor free throw shooting. But anyway, we got eaten alive inside and got killed on the boards.

This is going to be a recurring problem moving forward when we face teams with legit big men, let alone 2 like Philly. The way to counteract that is with terrific shooting and when we can’t even hit the free ones, it’s nearly impossible to win.

Still, some encouraging things:
1. Hayward, Tatum and Brown all look aggressive
2. Smart is as feisty as ever

Some causes for hope:
1. Kemba looks rusty, highlighted by that weird turnover where he just couldn’t handle the ball
2. The rookies (especially Edwards) will be able to calm down as the season goes on
3. We’ll still be a good free throw shooting team, eventually

Some concerning things to watch out for:
1. Brad’s best/closing line up seems to be playing Brown at the 5. Yikes!
2. Kemba doesn’t look quite comfy out there, playing with competent wings. I hope he figures it out
3. The rotation is still too wide at 12 players. Hopefully CBS cuts that down to 9 sooner than later
4. Which big can we rely on? CBS needs to figure that out

[Phantom255x]

The pattern felt similar to last season. Start sloppy, but still hang in there. Stays that way for much of the 1st half.

Defense is pretty solid, but the offense can't do anything to start "pulling away" on their end.

Then BOOM. 2nd half starts where PHI goes on a 13-2 run. Our offense has a pretty long scoring drought. We play catch up for a while, get it close, but then make dumb decisions and shoot ourselves out of the game while the other team pulls away late. 

[Neurotic Guy]

The pattern felt similar to last season. Start sloppy, but still hang in there. Stays that way for much of the 1st half.

Defense is pretty solid, but the offense can't do anything to start "pulling away" on their end.

Then BOOM. 2nd half starts where PHI goes on a 13-2 run. Our offense has a pretty long scoring drought. We play catch up for a while, get it close, but then make dumb decisions and shoot ourselves out of the game while the other team pulls away late. 

Cant disagree with this, but we are far from a 2019-20 pattern.