BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla received an open-ended question from the Globe’s Gary Washburn before the Celtics’ opener against Philadelphia? Do you know what to expect from this team?
“I don’t really look at the preseason games, per say,” he replied. “But I do expect a level of effort, toughness, intensity. What they did throughout practice and training camp has been good, we just have to translate that to the game, so to answer your question, no. But the non-negotiables that we set, the type of effort, the toughness, the execution of the system that we want to play … I do expect us to be able to do that.”
Mazzulla also believed the Celtics should remain competitive despite the team’s overhaul, and have a chance to win every game like they did across his first three seasons. Boston had that on Wednesday in the form of a 13-point fourth quarter lead and two opportunities before the buzzer to win the game. They squandered it with miscommunication and missed reads on offense, numerous defensive breakdowns during a 42-point fourth quarter and the long-discussed center depth issue emerged three minutes into the game when Mazzulla pulled Neemias Queta, who later fouled out.
Xavier Tillman Sr. shot 2-for-8 and Luka Garza left the game in the second quarter with a concussion. Tillman traded a game-saving offensive rebound late with a potential game-tying put back falling flat off the front of the rim. Garza did not return.
You saw the promise. Derrick White hit a pair of threes, seven free throws and scored 13 points to lead a 35-18 runaway third quarter. His block on Dominick Barlow and push in transition to set up a Sam Hauser three provided the loudest crowd pop of the night and a go-ahead score. The Celtics scored 1.28 points per possession in transition, and generated 25 opportunities to Philadelphia’s 17. That changed in the fourth quarter, when Boston’s offense created only three transition possessions.
“Fourth quarter, maybe we slowed down a little,” Jaylen Brown said. “Maybe it was a little fatigue. First game, but we definitely want to keep our pace in the fourth quarter. I’m one of the believers that fourth quarter, I know everybody thinks you gotta slow down and everything, but why? You can keep playing fast. We just turned the ball over too much, I think, in the fourth. That was the difference.”
That, too, became an area of early promise that faltered late. The Celtics forced 13 Sixers turnovers through three quarters before losing the battle in the fourth, 4-1. They still won that margin, 11-14, tied the offensive rebound and made free throw battles while attempting more shots than Philadelphia. The Celtics should’ve won the game. They put themselves in position to do so. But the margin for error proved too slim, and each defensive lapse became magnified. Then, late, squandered six of seven offensive possessions leading by six with 3:33 remaining.
Boston trailed by four points after that stretch with the shot clock turned off and worked within one behind Pritchard’s shooting, missed Philadelphia free throws and a Tillman offensive rebound. They lost after Pritchard missed a read for Anfernee Simons and Hauser to his left, and took the blame without chalking it up to Jayson Tatum usually handling those possessions.
The Celtics still looked like a team with enough fabric remaining from the championship years to find the right shots, mismatches and little advantages to stay in games. Whether they can overcome their flaws remains a question beyond opening night. Mazzulla substituted eight times in the first quarter, 17 in the first half and 17 more after halftime in search of lineups. Three guards played for most of the fourth quarter. Only wings took the floor for the final possession.
“It’s gonna be an adjustment for sure,” Simons told CLNS Media after. “They got a lot of great players on this team, great ball-handlers, Derrick, P, Jaylen, guys that can make plays, so you’re just trusting each other and trusting them to make those plays. It might vary from night-to-night, you just always gotta be prepared to be able to make a play and do the little things to win the game.”
Simons found those pockets through a debut that began subdued with two first quarter shot attempts and six points in the first half. He snuck back-side to deflect the ball from Joel Embiid early, stripped Kelly Oubre Jr. in help position on a drive and chased down Tyrese Maxey for a block after he stole a pass from Hauser. The Celtics out-scored the Sixers by 16 points in Embiid’s minutes, and effectively played him off the floor once Philadelphia taxed his minutes limit following a 1-for-9 start.
The team defense, however, faltered enormously with trying to contain Maxey, who scored 40 points, including three consecutive threes that changed the game early in the fourth where he shook White with a step-back and two screen plays. A 13-point advantage became a one possession game in three minutes, and worse, the Celtics had just hit Maxey with his fifth foul on an isolation play to begin the fourth quarter before the run.
He never fouled out, and Queta, who had two plays earlier separated Boston with three slips to the rim late, committed two fouls in one minute to exit the game with 1:42 remaining. The Celtics sent the Sixers to the free throw line 13 times in the fourth, and if Philadelphia cashed them, Boston never receives a chance to hit a game-winning shot. Yet it also required near flawless management of that final minute of clock to reach back within one point and receive two shots close to the rim for the win. Those are the margins the Celtics will ride for much of this year. And nobody sounded devastated about the kind of loss Boston will inevitably suffer often this season.
“We’ve been building it in training camp and obviously, first game, very winnable game once again, we’ll learn from this, we’ll learn how to close, we’ll learn spots where we can be better,” Brown said. “And that’s what it’s about. I’m not looking for guys to hang our head whatsoever. We just get ready for the next one, going on the road for the first time, it’s gonna be a good test for our group. Being consistent for a young player is a testament of what the NBA is about … being able to get guys going on the road and being able to find ways to win is ultimately what it’s gonna come down to.”
