76ers (0-0) at Celtics (0-0) Game #1 10/22/25

[Who]

Just watched Q1. Jaylen started the game great. 5pts 4ast 3reb in the first 9min before heading to the bench.

No assists for the rest of the game though. Finished with 4. All came in Q1. Had 6reb in 36min. So 3rb in Q1 and the 3rb in next 27min of playing time for Jaylen. He did drop 20 more points to finish with 25pts for the game though.

It was great to see the effort to pass to guys in Q1. He has some nice drop-offs to Tillman for easy finishes at the rim. Needs to keep that up. This team has little playmaking outside of the guards with Tatum out & Horford gone.

[Who]

It is amazing Philly won despite how badly Embiid played.

20min 4pts 1-9 FGA 6reb

In the 1st half here, Embiid is staying 20+ feet from the rim on 70-80% of his possessions. For the whole possession I mean. Never venturing closer. Embiid going closer was to post in the midrange at 15-17 feet. He was only doing that maybe 25% of the time. I am not sure I can remember him trying to get a deep catch / low post post up. Not rolling to the rim off of cuts / PnRs. He is just standing around the three point line doing dribble hand offs. And then around 25% of the time moving into an isolation in the mid post area when nothing materializes and there is around 10secs on the shot clock.

He is barely playing. The game is just happening around him.

Physically, it looks like he cannot do anymore. That he is saving himself. His energy. Protecting himself. Trying to stay at that three point line. Avoid running. Avoid contact. Avoid movement.

Embiid looks terrible.

[Birdman]

I said Celtics will not win over 30 games, hopefully I?m wrong?Hauser should not be starting..white & brown are gotta be worn down by March

[Who]

Didn't see the game, have to watch the replay today...Gary Washburn from the Globe seemed very unhappy with them in his write up of the result. Apparently they crapped the bed the last 3 minutes and gave the game away with silly fouls. He singled out Jaylen in particular with 3 fouls in the last quarter. Says they have a lot of growing up to do and are a flawed team. He said we bombed away from 3, White and PP were 5 of 20, and our defense was terrible. Says the team still can't close, and vulnerability will be the key word to describe them this year.

Vulnerability is going to be a constant theme in this transition season. While the Celtics entered nearly every game for the past 10 years with a better than average chance to win, that won?t be the case this year.

This team has the same late-game struggles as last year?s squad. The 76ers countered with a 15-2 run and the Celtics shot 1 for 6 with two turnovers. Once again, they were hoping the visitors would fold, falling into the narrative that the Celtics needed this win more. Boston backed into adversity in the final minutes instead of seizing the moment.

A team still trying to find its swagger and identity played like a bunch of JV players when it counted. The hope is the Celtics learn from this experience, but there could be numerous learning opportunities in the first few months as chemistry develops.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/23/sports/nba-celtics-sixers-jaylen-brown/

Obviously a 1 point loss will hurt, but was it a fair take?

You would wonder about that.

This is a team that is reliant on outside shooting for scoring. They will be streaky. Hot streaks and cold streaks.

They have no inside scoring. Little midrange scoring (Jaylen). And a huge reliance on outside shooting (Pritchard, A Simons, Hauser, D White). They will be streaky. Some of those cold streaks will come in the final minutes. Just the way it is.

[Who]

Edgecombe is really good.  Sixers got an amazing player there.  Him and Maxey just torching the C's when guard defense was supposed to be a strength of the team.

Nice game from Queta.  If he can play like this consistently, he will end up as a nice player.

Not really.

We only have one above average defensive guard in D-White. Then an average defender in Pritchard and a well below average defender in A Simons.

There is not a lot of defense there. Only D White.

[Jiri Welsch]

Just watched Q1. Jaylen started the game great. 5pts 4ast 3reb in the first 9min before heading to the bench.

No assists for the rest of the game though. Finished with 4. All came in Q1. Had 6reb in 36min. So 3rb in Q1 and the 3rb in next 27min of playing time for Jaylen. He did drop 20 more points to finish with 25pts for the game though.

It was great to see the effort to pass to guys in Q1. He has some nice drop-offs to Tillman for easy finishes at the rim. Needs to keep that up. This team has little playmaking outside of the guards with Tatum out & Horford gone.

JB will likely need to change his "shot out of a cannon to start the game" strategy if he wants to be anything resembling a 1A this year.

[Who]

I really feel like people are sleeping on Boston this year.

Don't get me wrong, I don't expect the Celtics to be a top 3 seed or anything.  But the NBA.com mock standings the other day had the Celtics something like 20th - well in lottery range - and I think that's extreme.

That is about where I have Boston too. There is a cluster of teams in that 16th-24th type range. Little separation between. I'd have Boston in the middle of that. Some good luck they finish in the top end. Some bad luck they finish in the bottom end of it.

[Vermont Green]

I did not get to watch the game, but did follow it on my phone.  BOS got beat at home, by a team that does not appear to be all that good.  And it was not Embiid that beat us, he was a shell.  That said, it is only one game and BOS is a team where a lot of players are in new roles.  Plenty of time still to figure things out and improve.

My "I told you so" is that I did not like the idea of starting Pritchard and Hauser.  I know there are not a lot of great options with this team.  Hauser in particular, not just because he is far better suited as a bench player, but also that we are just too small with him starting.  Pritchard is less of an issue for me.  I think he will be fine however they play him, but I like him in the bench role best.

I am not going to worry too much about 1 game.  I don't even care all that much about wins this season.  Unfortunately, the draft pick at the end of this is probably more important than a few more wins along the way.  But I do want to see development, progress in individual players and the team overall.

[boscel33]

Another blown lead in the fourth and Garza only got 6 minutes.  #facepalm

[Roy H.]

Another blown lead in the fourth and Garza only got 6 minutes.  #facepalm

Garza left the game with a concussion.

[Donoghus]

Definitely a game of ups & downs.  Late 4th quarter continues to be an achilles heel. It's like this team gets a mental block or something when it comes to putting away teams.  Super frustrating.  Defense certainly collapsed down the stretch.  Combination of mental errors & Maxey/Edgecombe going off.  Offense settled back into that stagnation slop. 

Queta was certainly a highlight though.  You can see his growth.  I think the national team work this past summer is paying some dividends.  Thought Simons took a bit to get his bearings but he's gonna be a great microwave guy.  Just frustrating to watch at times on the defensive end. It's gonna be the Derrick & JB show this season for the most part.  Need to do something about that frontcourt.

Embiid looked absolutely toasted out there.  A total non factor. I'd be very worried as a Sixer fan.

[boscel33]

Another blown lead in the fourth and Garza only got 6 minutes.  #facepalm

Garza left the game with a concussion.

I should have led with, I didn't get to see the game due to family visiting.  Sorry, but thanks for the update!

[A Future of Stevens]

There will be games where we shoot teams out of the arena. Most games, I think as others have said, It will be alot of Brown and White. They will need to find some kind of consistent scoring from the paint.

[Larry for 3]

Definitely a game of ups & downs.  Late 4th quarter continues to be an achilles heel. It's like this team gets a mental block or something when it comes to putting away teams.  Super frustrating.  Defense certainly collapsed down the stretch.  Combination of mental errors & Maxey/Edgecombe going off.  Offense settled back into that stagnation slop. 

  You can see his growth.  I think the national team work this past summer is paying some dividends.  Thought Simons took a bit to get his bearings but he's gonna be a great microwave guy.  Just frustrating to watch at times on the defensive end. It's gonna be the Derrick & JB show this season for the most part.  Need to do something about that frontcourt.

Embiid looked absolutely toasted out there.  A total non factor. I'd be very worried as a Sixer fan.

Queta wasn?t a highlight on defense at all. Absolutely horrible pick and roll defense. No resistance and a foul machine. That?s not getting it done. He?s a bench player. Look at that starting lineup- Houser, Pritchard and Queta. 3 terrible pick and roll defenders. Philly did whatever they want. I mean that?s easy in the NBA.

[Vermont Green]

An interesting stat (at least to me), BOS used 25 different individual line up combinations in the game.  I don't know what the league average is, but that seems like a lot.  Average length of time that a combination played together is 1 min 55 sec.