76ers (15-15) at Celtics (15-15) Game #31 12/20/21

[liam]

Ime should've tried something different with Embiid. Freedom was getting killed especially in the 4th. Freedom went 40 minutes. Too much.

So who else do you wanna put on the league's best big man?

When your 3 best Embiid defenders are out ... not many options.

Who are the 3 Embiid defenders that are out? Try Burno on him? Go small and make Embiid guard a perimeter player. Trying something is better than the same play over and over again.

[Kiorrik]

Ime should've tried something different with Embiid. Freedom was getting killed especially in the 4th. Freedom went 40 minutes. Too much.

So who else do you wanna put on the league's best big man?

When your 3 best Embiid defenders are out ... not many options.

Who are the 3 Embiid defenders that are out? Try Burno on him? Go small and make Embiid guard a perimeter player. Trying something is better than the same play over and over again.

We had Al, Rob and Grant on him last game.

He had 13 points.

[Goldstar88]

Sucks to lose the way that they did, however, Philly had all of their starters. C’s were at a huge disadvantage from the start.

[tenn_smoothie]

Tatum lackadaisical on that lost inbounds play .......... what is with that guy ?

Looked like a terrible pass to me.

Tatum stopped moving towards the ball. Green didn't stop and kept coming into the pass. Lackadaisical is the perfect word. Both of our "stars" were mostly terrible down the stretch. They both gave up big 3s by straying too far from their man. Both had stupid turnovers, usually when they were trying to drive one against four.

Reality is that Celtics are a .500 team with two talented but flawed stars.
I do not see either Brown or Tatum being the best player on a title team .....
they are more like Andrew Wiggins who may have settled in at Golden State
where he can focus on his strengths to help that team and does not have to be the top dog, which he is ill suited for.

Tatum's demeanor sometimes makes me think the pressure and expectations
being placed on him are taking a mental and physical toll.
He is not enjoying basketball right now.

[Goldstar88]

Ime should've tried something different with Embiid. Freedom was getting killed especially in the 4th. Freedom went 40 minutes. Too much.

So who else do you wanna put on the league's best big man?

When your 3 best Embiid defenders are out ... not many options.

Who are the 3 Embiid defenders that are out? Try Burno on him? Go small and make Embiid guard a perimeter player. Trying something is better than the same play over and over again.

We had Al, Rob and Grant on him last game.

He had 13 points.

Yeah, Grant can’t cover Embiid. He’s way too small. Would rather have Kanter on him.

[Kiorrik]

Ime should've tried something different with Embiid. Freedom was getting killed especially in the 4th. Freedom went 40 minutes. Too much.

So who else do you wanna put on the league's best big man?

When your 3 best Embiid defenders are out ... not many options.

Who are the 3 Embiid defenders that are out? Try Burno on him? Go small and make Embiid guard a perimeter player. Trying something is better than the same play over and over again.

We had Al, Rob and Grant on him last game.

He had 13 points.

Yeah, Grant can’t cover Embiid. He’s way too small. Would rather have Kanter on him.

Regardless, that's the story of the game imo - we lost to 1 player.

[liam]

Ime should've tried something different with Embiid. Freedom was getting killed especially in the 4th. Freedom went 40 minutes. Too much.

So who else do you wanna put on the league's best big man?

When your 3 best Embiid defenders are out ... not many options.

Who are the 3 Embiid defenders that are out? Try Burno on him? Go small and make Embiid guard a perimeter player. Trying something is better than the same play over and over again.

We had Al, Rob and Grant on him last game.

He had 13 points.

Ok, Grant is less than ideal but I get it. I would've at least tried Bruno on him and maybe even Tatum. Freedom looked like he was trying to not foul by the end. Playing way off of Embiid. Just going Freedom the whole way became predicable.

[liam]

Well, The Celtics let this one slip away...


On to the next one.

[Goldstar88]

Ime should've tried something different with Embiid. Freedom was getting killed especially in the 4th. Freedom went 40 minutes. Too much.

So who else do you wanna put on the league's best big man?

When your 3 best Embiid defenders are out ... not many options.

Who are the 3 Embiid defenders that are out? Try Burno on him? Go small and make Embiid guard a perimeter player. Trying something is better than the same play over and over again.

We had Al, Rob and Grant on him last game.

He had 13 points.

Yeah, Grant can’t cover Embiid. He’s way too small. Would rather have Kanter on him.

Regardless, that's the story of the game imo - we lost to 1 player.

Embiid, similar to Giannis, cannot be stopped if he’s locked in. He’s going to get his 30+. Problem is Seth Curry and Tobias Harris both scored 25 or more, while shooting 65% from the field and 6/6 from 3pt.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Ime should've tried something different with Embiid. Freedom was getting killed especially in the 4th. Freedom went 40 minutes. Too much.

So who else do you wanna put on the league's best big man?

When your 3 best Embiid defenders are out ... not many options.

Who are the 3 Embiid defenders that are out? Try Burno on him? Go small and make Embiid guard a perimeter player. Trying something is better than the same play over and over again.

We had Al, Rob and Grant on him last game.

He had 13 points.

Yeah, Grant can’t cover Embiid. He’s way too small. Would rather have Kanter on him.

Regardless, that's the story of the game imo - we lost to 1 player.

Embiid, similar to Giannis, cannot be stopped if he’s locked in. He’s going to get his 30+. Problem is Seth Curry and Tobias Harris both scored 25 or more, while shooting 65% from the field and 6/6 from 3pt.

You can't stop him but you can slow him down. Just not with Kanter.

Much like how Grant and Al did a great job on Giannis in the last Bucks game.

[hpantazo]

Well, The Celtics let this one slip away...


On to the next one.

That's been the story all season so far unfortunately.

[Kiorrik]

Well, The Celtics let this one slip away...


On to the next one.

That's been the story all season so far unfortunately.

In a game where Philly was on top, and clearly the better team, I wouldn't say we "let it slip away".

A more realistic point of view is that we made a little run and got back in the game, but ultimately, the 76ers nearly let it slip away.

There's a pretty big difference.

[hpantazo]

Well, The Celtics let this one slip away...


On to the next one.

That's been the story all season so far unfortunately.

In a game where Philly was on top, and clearly the better team, I wouldn't say we "let it slip away".

A more realistic point of view is that we made a little run and got back in the game, but ultimately, the 76ers nearly let it slip away.

There's a pretty big difference.

We were leading for most of the 3rd and more than halfway through the 4th until the Sixers closed the game on an 18-6 run lead by Embiid. We definitely let this game slip away.

[Kiorrik]

Well, The Celtics let this one slip away...


On to the next one.

That's been the story all season so far unfortunately.

In a game where Philly was on top, and clearly the better team, I wouldn't say we "let it slip away".

A more realistic point of view is that we made a little run and got back in the game, but ultimately, the 76ers nearly let it slip away.

There's a pretty big difference.

We were leading for most of the 3rd and more than halfway through the 4th until the Sixers closed the game on an 18-6 run lead by Embiid. We definitely let this game slip away.

Imo that's more an indication of what I said; Sixers played well for 3 quarters.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I think we all should get used to this type of result. This is a decent team, but nothing special. These guys will get the occasional big win against a top team, like the recent win over Milwaukee, but that sort of thing happens for most teams over the course of a full season—good teams have occasional bad days, and bad teams have occasional good days, and sometimes the two things align. Most Celtics games, however, against the upper-tier teams will be like this one—close, but no cigar (think the Utah game, then Golden State, and now Philly). They'll have some valiant play and some inspired comebacks, but usually they'll fall short.

Why? Bad health and lack of top-end talent.

This team cannot get healthy and stay healthy; they've proven that year after year, even before covid. And even if it somehow pulled off great health, it doesn't have enough firepower—just two pretty good players in Tatum and Brown, followed by a bunch of inconsistent role players, most of whom can't consistently shoot their way out of a paper bag. So unless Tatum and/or Brown becomes a top-5-ish player, or Boston acquires a high-impact player to go along with those two—and Boston finally gets a run of good luck on the health front—games like tonight's are going to be the rule rather than the exception.