76ers vs. Celtics: Highlights From NBA Season Opener
After a perfect preseason, the Philadelphia 76ers finally hit the floor to open up their regular season on Tuesday night.
For the first battle of their 2022-2023 schedule, the Sixers paid a visit to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Last season, the Sixers and the Celtics split their season series with two wins and two losses each.
By the end of the regular season, Philadelphia entered the playoffs as the fourth seed. The Celtics, who got off to a slow start on the year, entered the playoffs as the second seed after getting hot in the second half of the season.
The Sixers managed to defeat the Toronto Raptors in round one but fell short to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Meanwhile, the Celtics made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they defeated the Heat to advance to the final stage of the postseason.
The Celtics came up short to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals but entered the offseason with high hopes as they remain championship contenders for the 2022-2023 season.
On Tuesday, the Sixers and the Celtics engaged in their first regular season matchup of the year.
First Quarter
The Sixers got off to a slow start. Once they managed to shake off the rust from the offseason, Philadelphia established an offensive rhythm and, as expected, took advantage of many trips to the free-throw line.
James Harden led the charge as he checked in for the entire first quarter. The star guard not only drained three of his four shots from the field, knocking down two shots from beyond the arc but “The Beard” got to the free throw line for eight shots. He was perfect from the charity stripe and wrapped up the first 12 minutes of action with a team-leading 16 points.
Second Quarter
A tight battle continued in the second quarter. After Philadelphia outscored Boston 29-24, Jaylen Brown put his team on his back and was nearly perfect from the field in nine minutes as he drained five of his six shots for 14 points.
Joel Embiid might’ve spent a lot of time on the floor, but he was definitely more active on the offensive end for the Sixers in the second quarter, as he put up ten points in ten minutes.
Also, Harden remained aggressive. While he wasn’t as efficient from the field before the half, Harden tacked on another six points in seven minutes.
"The Beard" nearly silenced the TD Garden crowd with an impressive move against Marcus Smart, followed by a shimmy and a shot. However, the shot bricked, which caused an uproar in Boston.
Fortunately for Harden, he got the last laugh in the sequence as he made a ridiculous shot during the final second of the shot clock running out.
Third Quarter
With a tied game at 63 coming into the second half, the Sixers and the Celtics were getting chippy early on to begin the third quarter.
Frequent rivals Marcus Smart and Joel Embiid got involved in some extracurricular activity and exchanged words. To no surprise, the crowd did not receive it well, and NSFW chants toward Embiid broke out in Boston.
One team got a boost of energy from the chippiness, and it wasn’t the visiting team. Celtics star Jayson Tatum dominated for the entire third quarter. The Boston All-Star went 7-9 from the field for 17 of the Celtics’ 35-point run in the third quarter, giving the Celtics a double-digit lead going into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter
The Sixers attempted to gain some life after a significant momentum shift in the third quarter. The third-year guard Tyrese Maxey brought some promise to the table at the start of the fourth, but his spark was short-lived.
The Celtics kept the heavy momentum on their side. Meanwhile, the Sixers slowly deflated. While they didn’t waive the white flag when it was clear Boston was on its way to stealing a victory on night one, the Sixers certainly walked away from Tuesday’s game disappointed in the final result.
The Celtics wrapped up the night with a 126-117 victory over Philadelphia at home. Tatum led his team with 35 points as they advance to 1-0 on the year.
