By Dante Nelson, Sports Talk Philly staff 
The Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Boston Celtics 110-102 despite shooting much better than the Celtics from the floor. Turnovers, poor rebounding, and lack of free throws are what did the Sixers in, in the end. Still, the Sixers shot very well from three point range and that's really what kept them in the game and prevented a full on blowout.
Ben Simmons started off slowly. Two turnovers and missing all of his shots from the field in the first quarter. He went to the bench, came back a few minutes later, and just showed off his awesome passing ability. He was making bullet passes, behind the back passes, and impressive bounce passes. He ended up finishing the game stuffing the stat sheet. 8 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 3 rebounds. But, he had 5 turnovers and 4 fouls. So, ya know, rookie game. It happens.
At the end of the first quarter, the Sixers were shooting in the 50 percent range all across the board. 50 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from 3 point range, and an unfortunate 57.1 percent from the free throw line.
The second quarter started off poorly. It started with the Sixers down 27-28. Within 2 minutes, the Sixers were down 29-37 and they called timeout. They got back into the game, as close as 34-37. Clearly, the Sixers were having issues because while the Sixers shot around 50 percent from the field for most of the first half, they trailed for most of the first quarter and all of the second.
The Sixers actually shot better than the Celtics for the most part. So, how did the Sixers end up trailing while shooting better? Well, they had some turnovers. But, also, the Celtics had quite a bit of offensive rebounds, which gave them more shots. They have more attempts and makes than the Sixers since the Sixers, through a combination of turnovers and poor rebounding, did not have control of the ball.
By the half, the Sixers had 8 turnovers and gave up 7 offensive rebounds. The Celtics field goal makes and attempts were 23-49 while the Sixers were 20-41. As you can see, the Celtics took plenty more shots out there. They made more too. The Sixers made 11 3 pointers vs the Celtics' 6. Celtics made 7 three pointers. It's crazy; the Celtics made less three pointers but still led by two points at the half. The Sixers shot 48.8 percent while the Celtics shot 46.9 percent.
Time to move on. Second half. Will the Sixers fare?
The Sixers got a couple of steals and quick buckets and ended up leading 61-59. The Sixers continued the trend of having less attempts and makes from the field as the Celtics took the lead back. The Sixers eventually ended up down 78-88, but the Sixers were shooting 50 percent from the floor while the Celtics were shooting 47.1 percent.
The Sixers continued to struggle taking care of the ball and securing defensive boards and so the Celtics got more attempts which led to more makes. The 3rd quarter ended with the Celtics up 91-83.
I've already made it clear why the Sixers are trailing despite shooting better. Some people say it's the quality that matters but, in this case, quantity is definitely better for the Celtics. We can only hope the Sixers are able to stop the Celtics. They don't have to out shoot them. Just taking care of the ball and limiting the offensive rebounds should be enough in what is still a close game.
Let's see how it goes.
The Sixers ended up trailing by as much as 13 during the quarter. There was a cute moment when Emeka Okafor and Jahlil Okafor were on the court together. It was a family affair and it was adorable. Jahlil eventually left after a…not so good call of a flagrant foul. As the 4th quarter dragged on, it became…or seemed to become a done deal that the Sixers would lose. I thought so, especially as Brett Brown started putting the rest of the bench in the game. But then, the Sixers went on a little run and ended up down 105-99 with 2:42 left. Could the Sixers' bench win it for the team?
No, the Sixers lost 102-110. Sad face.
The Sixers shot 48 percent while the Celtics ended up at 40 percent from the field. While the Celtics did get more makes and attempts, a big factor that also played was free throws. The Celtics had 21 made free throws while the Sixers made only 9.
The Celtics were led in points by Kyrie Irving as he had 21 points. He shot 50 percent from the floor, and 5-7 from three point range.
The Sixers were led in scoring by Jerryd Bayless as he had 15 points. He was 3-5 from three point range. The Sixers as a team shot very well beyond the arc as they went 14-29, good for 48 percent. That's a good sign and it makes sense when you look at the roster. Most of these shooters are proven/established so these numbers are to be expected.
The next Sixers game is Monday as they face the Celtics again.
