Celtics show flashes, but 76ers claim season opener behind historic rookie performance: 8 takeaways
The Celtics showed glimpses of their potential this season, but thanks to a historic rookie performance from VJ Edgecombe and a stellar performance from Tyrese Maxey, the 76ers won their first game of the season.
Here are the highlights.
Rookie wing VJ Edgecombe proved fully capable of withstanding the Sixers’ relentless tanking efforts in his regular season debut last season. Edgecombe broke the NBA record for most points by a rookie by scoring 14 points in the first quarter, breaking LeBron James’ record of 12 points. Furthermore, he also broke the Sixers’ 30-point record as a rookie, previously held by Allen Iverson, scoring 34 points on 13 of 26 shooting, including several spectacular dunks.
Derrick White said, “It was impressive for a rookie to score so many points in his debut game. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a player do that before, but he had a really great game.”
Meanwhile, point guard Tyrese Maxey has proven to be the Sixers’ main superstar this season. He led the Sixers to a halftime lead and even led them back when Boston tried to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Maxey put up a brilliant 40-point performance and devastated the Celtics’ defense, which struggled to defend him every time he missed a shot.
The Sixers aren’t a perfect team, but last season’s poor performance has worked wonders for them, and now that “Process Part 1” is coming to an end (more on that in a moment), they seem ready to begin “Process Part 2.”
After losing a two-point lead, the Celtics appeared to be in trouble, but Edgecombe missed the last two free throws, giving them their last chance.
With eight seconds left, Derrick White struggled to inbound the ball and finally passed it to Payton Pritchard. Pritchard drove the ball into the paint, and with less than a second remaining, his shot was blocked just outside the line of scrimmage.
On their last chance, the Celtics once again passed to Pritchard, who created some space but missed a potential game-winning field goal.
According to Pritchard, the play was designed for Jaylen Brown.
Pritchard said, “They had the ball in the shade. I got the ball, I attacked, maybe I made a wrong read. Anfernee (Simmons) and Sam (Houser) were open in the back, so I just had to make that pass.”
Mazzulla said the goal was to get the ball to the Celtics’ ball-handlers.
“We got the ball in the paint, had good possession. You just have to get the ball to those players, and they gave us a chance to win,” Mazzulla said.
Despite appearing vulnerable, the Celtics have needed to win whenever they could this season, and Wednesday’s game was a prime example of that.
On a night when the player best suited to hurt them looked completely outmatched, and after building a double-digit lead thanks to two exceptional performances in the second half against a weak team, the Celtics failed to secure their first win of the season.
This puts them in a precarious position in their first seven games. Their next match is against the Knicks, who are considered a genuine championship contender this season. This is the start of a three-game series in four nights, with their easiest opponent (the Pelicans) being the same opponent they faced last time. Then there are the Cavaliers (another championship contender), this 76ers team, and the Rockets (another championship contender who looked strong in their match against the Thunder on Tuesday).
When the dust settles, the Celtics could be in a difficult position in the standings, and although the season has just begun, this isn’t last year’s team—recovering from an early slump will be much more difficult.
Brown and White scored 25 points each in their first games as new Celtics stars. Brown handed out four assists and made 9 of 18 shots, displaying the kind of patient play the Celtics needed in the absence of Jayson Tatum.
Before the match, Brown was listed as questionable due to a hamstring injury he suffered during preseason. And that was it.
“Everything was fine. I felt it healed well. I definitely have some recovery to do,” Brown said. “After recovering from any injury, you have to make sure you’re fully recovered because that’s when the risk is highest.
So I just have to make sure I focus on my body, rest, recover, and be ready for the next game.”
Meanwhile, White and the rest of his teammates cooled off after missing three shots in the second quarter—at one point, the Celtics missed nine in a row—but they bounced back in the third quarter, reaching the line seven times.
The Celtics reportedly spent the entire summer considering what they could get for Simmons in the trade market, and that option is still under consideration—after all, this is a team that’s quite volatile—but initially, they’re unsure.
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