The 2018-2019 NBA season tipped off on Tuesday Night. Renewing their historic rivalry, the Sixers attempted to avenge their playoff series loss to the Celtics that had happened just months prior. Yet, all the Process Trusting in the world couldn’t get the Sixers a win over the Celtics. And it looks like it will stay that way.
Offense
Philly’s offense looked terrible. On the shooting front, things were bad. The team went 5 for 26 from deep, an abysmal percentage. Fultz alone, who had supposedly taken hundreds of thousands of jump shots throughout the offseason, went 2 for 7 from the field.
Embiid, as usual, committed an egregious number of turnovers (5). I’m no basketball expert, but it seems Joel needs to handle the ball less. His errant dribbles and unnecessary drives to the basket cost the team too dearly. And with the opposing defense playing so close to the basketball (due to the team’s inability to shoot 3’s), he’s often forcing a jump shot or making a wild pass.
Simmons looked the same as last season offensively, unable to shoot but able to control game-flow and locate some lanes for crafty passing. Covington looked mediocre on the offensive end, shooting 3 for 10 from the field, 2 for 7 outside.
The Sixers only manage to put up 87 points, which, for an NBA team, won’t win them many games. This was in part due to poor three-point shooting, too many turnovers (16), and awful free-throw shooting (58.3%).
In my opinion, the offense has declined since last season, as the Sixers are now without Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova. One can only hope that the offense will improve once Mike Muscala and Wilson Chandler start playing. At this rate, offensively, the Sixers are in for a rough season.
Defense
Throughout the game, the Sixers defense looked good at best. They ended up giving up 105 points to the Celtics who, granted, are the offensive powerhouse of the East. As a team, they had five blocks, eight steals, and forced 14 turnovers. Covington and Embiid played as they did last season; Rob locked down his opponents well (aside from getting his ankle broken by Tatum) and Joel played as a strong rim defender. The rest of the team was pretty average, aside from JJ Redick who got burned on defense a few times, but that’s to be expected.
Final Thoughts
From my perspective, the team, as a whole, has experienced a slight decline from last season. I realize that they played arguably the best team in the Eastern Conference, but the shooting was TERRIBLE, and the offense looked disorganized. Much of that blame falls on Brett Brown, who seems like he could control his players a little better. At the other end of the court, the Sixers are playing playoff, but not championship caliber, defense.
If they want to compete in the Finals this season, their offensive needs to see MAJOR improvements. Fans should not expect to see the Sixers beat the Celtics this season. I hope that my reactions are overly pessimistic and incorrect, but I’m not excited to see what the rest of this 76ers season will bring.