Which Sixers Stood Out in Preseason Rematch vs. Celtics

In a preseason rematch against the Celtics, which Sixers stood out?

After getting defeated on the road for their preseason opener against the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers returned home to host their first game since May.

Once again, the Sixers battled it out against the Celtics, searching for their first victory of the preseason.

Heading into the game, the 76ers declared a handful of players out early. Joel Embiid and James Harden got the night off once again as they continued resting. Meanwhile, the veteran reserve Furkan Korkmaz continues dealing with a leg strain that’s kept him off the floor.

While the Sixers got De’Anthony Melton in the mix for his preseason debut on Wednesday, they lost another reserve as Danuel House got the night off.

The Sixers’ key core put up a good fight against the shorthanded Celtics at the jump, but Boston pulled away with a seven-point lead going into the intermission. 

Despite the Celtics giving all but one of their starters of the night the entire second half off, the Sixers couldn’t take advantage in the third quarter. With a 23-16 run, Boston went into the fourth quarter leading 90-75.

From that point on, they never looked back. For the second-straight game, the Sixers came up short against Boston, collecting a 112-101 loss. The Sixers dropped to 0-2 in the preseason.

Despite coming up short once again, the Sixers have some positive performances to take away from this one. Here are the three standouts from the night. 

Who Stood Out?

Sixers' Tyrese Maxey had another decent outing against the Celtics in the preseason / USA Today

Tyrese Maxey

We didn’t get a Maxey masterclass on Wednesday, resembling his dominant showing on Sunday, but the young guard once again looked like he was in mid-season form. The three-point shot wasn’t as sharp, as he went 2-6 from deep, but Maxey was getting active in the paint.

He picked up 24 minutes of action through three quarters and attempted a team-leading 17 shots from the field. Maxey finished the night with 17 points, leading all starters in scoring. He also dished out four assists, grabbed three rebounds, and snatched two steals.

With Nick Nurse’s new system in place, Maxey could benefit from it a lot, as he’ll have plenty of scoring opportunities in the free-flowing offense.

New Sixers veteran Kelly Oubre had a stellar second outing with his new team on Wednesday.  / USA Today

Kelly Oubre

In his first set of action with the Sixers, Oubre was a mixed bag. Did some things good — made some questionable decisions as well — but Oubre’s follow-up performance was nothing short of spectacular.

Once again coming off the bench, checking in rather early, Oubre knocked down a three and hit two free throws in his first seven minutes of action. Once he was warmed up, Oubre got confident and started catching fire from the field. The veteran knocked down all of his threes and tacked on another 11 points. He went into halftime with a team-leading 16 points, shooting a perfect 5-5 from the field.

Oubre played for just under eight minutes in the third quarter, getting some extra run before concluding his night. After throwing down an alley-oop dunk, assisted by Paul Reed, Oubre wrapped up his second outing on the Sixers with 18 points in 22 minutes.

Danny Green returned to the Wells Fargo Center as a member of the Sixers on Wednesday.  / USA Today

Danny Green

One of the biggest question marks for the Sixers heading into the preseason surrounded the three-time champion, Danny Green.

How much gas does he have left in the tank? Well, Green surely challenged some of his doubters on Wednesday. Coming off the bench in the first quarter, Green made an early impact in under four minutes. The veteran drilled a couple of threes and snatched two steals on the defensive end.

While Green’s early eight-point scoring burst ended up being his only point production for the night, the veteran did a little bit of everything and reminded everybody that at 36, he can still be productive. Consistency will be key for Green throughout the preseason, but he definitely didn’t look like a guy who would be looking to accept a role outside of the rotation on Wednesday.