The Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Boston Celtics 102-92, but it was much closer than that final score. The Sixers were led in scoring by JJ Redick as he had 19 points. He made his first four 3 pointers and ended up shooting 57.1 percent from long range. The Celtics were led by Kyrie Irving with 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 rebounds.
The Sixers shot poorly in the first quarter. 33.3 percent is very close to Brixers territory. Not good. Yet, they ended the quarter down 24-21. So, you'll take it, but the Sixers would do well to shoot better. During the second quarter, the Sixers were shooting 30.8 percent from the field. Oh, so close but we can still call them Sixers.
Let's talk about the half that the FEDS had.
F is for Markelle Fultz. At the half, he had four points on 20 percent shooting from the field. So…that's not really good. He had a steal and rebound. He also had three fouls. Just not that great of a half.
E is for Joel Embiid. He didn't shoot well, either. He had two points but missed all of his shots from the floor. Yes, his points were from the free throw line. Still, he had five rebounds, two assists and a block. So, that's something.
D is for Dario Saric. He had eight points on 66.7 percent shooting from the floor. He also had seven rebounds. But, he did have two turnovers.
S is for Ben Simmons. He played well and probably had the best half of the group. He scored nine points on 50 percent shooting. He also had eight rebounds and two assists. Eh, but he did have 3 turnovers so that assist to turnover ratio isn't looking too good.
The Sixers had a weird half. They shot worse from the floor against the Celtics for most of the half. In fact, even when they took the lead, they were shooting 38.6 percent while the Celtics were at 40.9 percent. But, the Sixers made more three's and free throws so it balances out.
During the second quarter, the fans in Wells Fargo Center had enough of some poor officiating and began a chant of "refs you suck".
The Sixers led for most of the 3rd quarter. The Celtics wrestled the game away during the 4th quarter. The Sixers simply couldn't get the game back under control.
The real story was how terrible the officiating was during the game. In the first half, it was on edge. But, in that second half, especially against the Sixers, the officiating was horrible. Some questionable calls left and right. At one point, Dario was called for two offensive fouls in a row; both the same type of foul. While the first one seemed like a decent call, the second one seemed like a stretch.
There were awkward periods where the game just stopped and the refs didn't seem to know what to do.
So, how did the FEDS do in the end?
Fultz had a poor showing, scoring just six points on 22.2 shooting. He had three rebounds but four fouls.
Embiid, for whatever reason, fell in love with the three ball. It didn't work out. At all. He was a horrific 0-6 from long range. But, when he finally attacked the paint, he was shooting at a decent clip. Play in the post, buddy. You're not Redick. He did finish with 11 points on 25 percent shooting.
Dario was shaky in the first half, but things went downhill for the sophomore. He ended the game nine points and 10 rebounds. Problem is, he also had six turnovers and four fouls.
Simmons had the best game for the team. He had a double double of 1o points and 11 rebounds. He had five assists as well.
Overall, it was a decent game to watch. The shooting was poor and the officiating was subpar, but it was still something you could enjoy watching. It's Sixers basketball. We didn't see the Brixers show up. Things went alright and could have been worse.
The Sixers face the Toronto Raptors tomorrow night. Don't expect to see Embiid playing as he's still being restricted from playing big minutes and back to backs. But, hey, we still have the rest of the FEDS to keep an eye on.
