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Neemias Queta had a career night and almost singlehandedly killed the Sixers on the glass, pushing the Boston Celtics to a 114-98 win over Philadelphia on Sunday evening. The Celtics had 19 offensive rebounds, and Tyrese Maxey sputtered to a 12/34 finish from the field.
Here’s what I saw.
Too little, too late for Tyrese Maxey
Tyrese Maxey was just flat-out bad on both ends of the floor in the first half of this game. While I am sympathetic to his plight in a matchup like this, crunched into the middle of the floor with non-shooters and shaky decision-makers sprinkled throughout the lineup, his decision-making against the Celtics was as bad as it has been all year.
Facing constant pressure can cloud your vision, but it wasn’t clear that Maxey was even looking to move the ball against Boston. There were a lot of possessions with Maxey predetermining he was going to shoot the ball, hoisting shots up even when he could not get his feet set or a clean look at the basket. It wasn’t a shock when he ultimately bricked those attempts. It’s not often that you see Maxey forcing shots up to the degree he did on Sunday, and if he is, it usually means he’s on a heater. It’s not clear to me why he kept falling on his own sword instead of looking to move the ball, though they certainly didn’t move much around him to provide him with outlets. He was 4/18 from the field at halftime, and many of those misses turned into quick run-outs for Boston.
I would argue he was just as destructive on the defensive end of the floor, though the scheme gives him an “explanation” for his crimes there. Maxey has taken Nick Nurse’s desire to hunt steals to an extreme degree, often helping from the strong side corner in off-ball positions to help against drivers. It’s one thing when you’re crashing from someone’s blindside and get burned, but he’s often more brazen. Maxey conceded way too many open threes against the Celtics by opening simple passing windows with his help defense, hardly bothering the driver in the process.
It gets old discussing Philadelphia’s defensive scheme over and over, but it remains a problem in many matchups and against the general style of offense in today’s NBA. The Celtics are run by a coach who wants to hunt threes more aggressively than any coach in NBA history. Sending help off the corners to converge on drivers and rollers is a recipe to get bombed away on all night long, and once the Celtics started making threes, this game was put to bed quickly. I don’t understand why there isn’t more nuance to their defensive approach, either in the macro or in individual matchups where it’s warranted.
Maxey would eventually get rolling in the third quarter, finding his touch from the midrange on a few two-dribble pull-ups and runners to bring Philadelphia within striking distance. The final line looks good enough, and might have been with normal-ish performances from the likes of Kelly Oubre and Quentin Grimes. But the bounce back in the second half was ultimately not enough to override his miserable start to the game.
Signs of hope in Boston
VJ Edgecombe’s first two games on the Boston parquet have been pretty good and a welcome sight for a franchise that has rarely had players who deliver results against the Celtics. For obvious reasons, I will refrain from comparing him to another two-guard who rose to the occasion against their hated rivals, but this has been fun to watch so far.
With Maxey struggling to find a rhythm against the Celtics, it was up to Edgecombe to provide the steadying force to keep this close in the first half. A three from the wing here, a closeout attack for a short runner there, sprinkle in a gorgeous move in transition, and you’ve got a stew going:
There was a stretch of the third quarter when it felt like Philadelphia was ready to let go of the rope, even as Edgecombe kept making play after play. The rookie made a terrific recovery play to block a shot from behind, only for Kelly Oubre to stand flatfooted and watch the loose ball trickle to the Celtics, eventually ending in a three from the left wing. But Edgecombe kept coming, knocking down a catch-and-shoot three with a hand in his face moments before hitting Maxey with a beautiful outlet pass in transition for two points in the middle of a nice Sixers run.
He wasn’t perfect, forcing up some tightly contested jumpers when a closeout attack might have done the trick, and he did not have enough to carry this one over the line in crunch time. But I have been encouraged by his play out of the All-Star break, and it looks like he has broken through the rookie wall again.
The rookie was aided in the “little things” department by Dominick Barlow, who played another excellent all-around game for Philadelphia after his own terrific opener in Boston in October. Barlow was both a passing-lane demon and a strong defensive rebounder, ending a lot of Celtics possessions with his hands on a night when second-chance possessions were plentiful. He was also one of their better options against Jaylen Brown, slowing him down early before Brown would eventually find his groove against smaller Philadelphia defenders.
With a lot of the lineup struggling, Barlow had to create more of his own offense than is typical, and he did a great job in that department too. Would have rather seen him at center down the stretch than Drummond, frankly.
The backup big battle shouldn’t be one
Adem Bona is sneakily starting to put it together as Philadelphia’s top center option behind Joel Embiid. I’m not saying to count him as a reliable playoff guy, but I will live with the errors of aggression to try to help him round out the skill set leading into the playoffs.
The second that Bona checked into this game for Andre Drummond in the first half, he made his presence known. A defensive rebound on one end, an offensive rebound and putback layup on the other, strong contests at the rim, and better screens than we’ve seen him set for most of his two years in the league. I am typically skeptical that you can make major improvements to your hands while in the NBA, but I have seen signs of growth from Bona there, which makes me hopeful he could eventually be a genuine two-way player some day.
On the other hand, Andre Drummond looks completely off the pace as a starting or backup option. Neemias Queta had an outstanding game for Boston and has been a great under-the-radar story for the Celtics this season, but Drummond hardly tried to bother him in most of their shared minutes on the floor. He was helpless as a rebounder, often rooted to the spot while the younger big chased down extra possession after extra possession. Drummond flailed helplessly as Queta drove past him over and over again, and the only shocking thing was that Nurse kept going back to him despite repeated crimes against basketball. Outstanding effort from Queta, but Drummond was worse than useless.
Other notes
— Cam Payne’s play in Philadelphia has only strengthened my belief that they should have been searching for wings to fill their end-of-the-bench roster spots. He isn’t organizing the offense or handling the ball much, and he is drawing dead in both help positions and one-on-one defense, as you’d expect. Nurse has tried to use him in three-guard lineups quite a bit already, and they have not gotten anywhere near enough offense out of them to justify how putrid that look is defensively.
It was one thing to have Jared McCain in the rotation, given his draft status and unique shooting talent. I don’t know what they’re getting from Payne or why they need him in anything more than an emergency situation.
— Trendon Watford simply cannot be as allergic to shooting as he is and play a role for this team. I don’t mind if he misses shots, but he has to take more of them.
— Shout out to the woman in the front row who took a kick to the face from Edgecombe in the fourth quarter and kept a smile on her face afterward. Tough lady!