Undermanned Sixers blow 26-point lead in loss to Celtics

Despite more brilliance from Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers blew a 26-point lead in the third quarter en route to a loss to the Boston Celtics.

Here's what I saw.

Likes

- Maxey's run of form lately is an ascent to legitimate superstardom. I continually thought to myself, "Well, let's see him against championship-level defenses". Not a test, but just wanted to see how much the quality of defense was a variable in his play. Nothing scares Maxey, though. He had 16 points in the first quarter, riding a heater from three.

Maxey added another seven in the second frame to finish the first half with 23 total. Ho hum. Jokes aside, he did it in the same manner he's been doing it for the last week-plus. His game has an Allen Iverson swagger to it. One second he's got a defender in front of him, next second he's swooping the ball between his legs and exploding around someone. He's slowing down at the right times and speeding up when he sees the runway to heaven. And to make the headache that much worse for the Celtics, he was feeling it on the pull-up and off the catch. He's even starting to get more calls, too. A tone-setting first half for the Sixers guard when it looked like Philadelphia might've been in for a blowout defeat early on.

- There was some shooting luck going the Sixers' way in the first half, to be sure, but you saw the value of simply having youth and length on the floor. It showed on a handful of overlooked plays that came in the crowded areas by the rim. The likes of Justin Edwards, Ricky Council IV, Kelly Oubre Jr. and others disrupted a bunch of second-chance opportunities in the first half, helping Philadelphia expand its lead. Whether it was just a finger nail on the ball or an extra inch of arm length bothering a shooter, it was just enough for shots at the rim to be short or off target and fall into the Sixers' hands on the rebound. It was just enough to get stops. You don't always need the highlight-worthy rejection. Sometimes, you just need to be long and athletic enough to throw off an opponent's concentration ever so slightly. 

- Council turning in the best display of decision-making in his young career was what flipped this game in Philadelphia's favor for most of the first half and the overwhelming majority of the third quarter. The most notable difference was that he eviscerated hard closeouts with outrageous shot fakes. He had the Celtics jumping for joy every time the ball swung his way, creating driving lanes for the uber-athletic wing to stir up rim pressure. The more he attacked, the more Boston collapsed on the paint, the more teammates cut for dump-off passes. Philadelphia got perhaps its best ball movement of the season in this game, and Council was often the fulcrum of it.

- As an aside to bad contests on shot fakes, I thought not overreacting to the swing pass was one of the keys to the Sixers holding Boston's offense at bay for most of this game. The Celtics manufacture so much space by making your defense panic at shot fakes. Then, it's a side-step three or an attack. The Sixers mostly stayed disciplined against those fakes, not allowing Boston to get dribble penetration out of it.

- Oubre absolutely engulfed rebounds in this game. His pride in that facet of the game this season cannot be understated. But, it was a lot more "in your face" in this game, given Boston's size and plethora of wings. He shut down some Boston possessions by flying into the paint and wrapping up the rock like Saquon Barkley protecting the football as he runs 65 yards for a touchdown.

Dislikes

- Brilliance and all, Maxey had a little bit of trouble creating separation from Jaden Springer. The former Sixer's gift is his low center of gravity. He can stay with small guards quite well on defense. The Celtics briefly had Maxey contained in the first quarter, Springer top-locking and jamming him on screens. That's when Maxey has to read the off-ball situation a bit deeper. If he's top-locking you, cut backdoor. If he's holding onto your jersey, it's a foul. If he's not, he's scrambling to chase you. 

- The one thing that Nick Nurse will never be able to explain away is his undying hunger to use challenges early in games. He used his golden ticket early in the first half, lost and was reduced to going berserk on the sideline every time he disagreed with a call. If you disagree, save them for more meaningful situations.

Spare thoughts

- The president's next executive order should be for the Celtics to burn the alternate uniforms they used in this game. Is this an homage to the Oregon Ducks? Absolute monstrosities.

The Sixers (19-29) will host the Dallas Mavericks (lol) on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., Eastern time. You can catch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

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