BOSTON — The streets of Boston were littered with joggers on Sunday, as most were getting in their final preparations to participate in Monday's famed marathon.
Inside of TD Garden after getting hammered by the Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first round series, the Sixers are hoping this doesn't turn into a sprint of a series Boston.
It was that bad from the get-go and the Sixers got steamrolled, 123-91. Game 2 will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
In a pregame meeting with the media, Boston coach Joe Mazzulla was serious, precise and quick to the point in answering a question about his team. He took all of about 35 seconds on the podium before abruptly ending the get together.
Not long after, his team mirrored their coach. The Celtics were serious from the opening tap, precise enough to make nine of their first 13 shots to open a big lead early, and disposed of the Sixers in rapid fashion.
"The message internally has been the same however long I've been with the Celtics," Mazzulla said. "Just have to be consistent with things that lend to winning. Understand that there's highs, there's lows. Stay consistent to the process of winning. Stick together, and results take care of themselves. We've been very consistent in our messaging."
And the Celtics hear it loud and clear. They scored from all over the floor and took advantage of whatever opportunities they could find, and they found a lot.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 26 points and Jason Tatum collected 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Tatum scored 21 of his points in the first half when the Celtics built a 64-46 lead.
In a game that saw the last eight minutes played with deep subs, the Celtics still shot 50 percent from the field (45-for-90) and made 16-of-44 (36.4 percent) from three point range compared to the Sixers, who shot 35-for-90 (38.9 percent) and made only four of 23 three-pointers (17.4 percent).
All the Sixers' missed layups in Game 1. pic.twitter.com/Xz8XNUAkOW
"The weird part about it is we got some good looks, we missed wide open threes," said Tyrese Maxey, who made one of his four 3-point attempts and had a team-high 21 points. "But the defense, we had a lot of defensive breakdowns, a lot of stuff that we went over. I think the most immediate stuff is, like, if you see somebody driving to the rim, step in front of them, especially if it is Jaylen or Jason. Step in front of them, make them kick the ball out and then rotate off of that.
"But they got wide-open, walk down the lane layups, walk down the lane dunks. Those are the ones we can't give up. It's going to be tough, regardless, and we're capable of doing it. But we can't give those type of plays up."
There is so much that needs fixing after the first 48 minutes, you have to wonder if it can be or if the Celtics are just that much better right now.
"I don't think we matched the physicality or the toughness," said Paul George, who added 17 points. "Essentially they had a lot of possessions where they just walked to the rim to layups. There was just no resistance a lot of times throughout the game. That's not playoff basketball."
And while the Celtics were comfortable most of the day on the offensive side of the floor, they never saw the Sixers have that same feeling. And after missing so many threes early, Philadelphia began to hesitate or just totally pass up shooting the long ball.
Boston executes throughout the course of a game as well as any team in the league. Its halfcourt sets are pristine, the running game sharp and it will take advantage of each and every mistake an opponent presents. For evidence, towards the end of the first quarter, Kelly Oubre, Jr. missed a corner three with six seconds to go. Tatum corralled the rebound, threw it out to Jordan Walsh for a reverse layup just before the buzzer. The Sixers were just a half second late getting back, and the result was a easy bucket to end the first frame.
Here's Nick Nurse postgame after the Celtics' Game 1 demolition of the Sixers. pic.twitter.com/zGmcIJ5bB1
"A lot went wrong, that's for sure," said Nick Nurse. "It kind of started right at the beginning with not getting off to a good start offensively, getting in foul trouble with both bigs. The first quarter was moving past us pretty quick and we just didn't do enough at either end to settle into the game."
When playing a team as good and cohesive as the Celtics, things really have to go according to plan when you're the opposition. The Sixers got knocked off kilter quickly on Sunday, as starting center Adem Bona picked up his second foul less than three minutes into the game and his backup, Andre Drummond got his second with 4:39 to go in the first. The team had to finish the quarter with undersized Dominick Barlow playing in the middle.
With so many youngsters on the team and the lack of cohesion the Sixers were able to develop throughout the year with players missing time, and the fact that the Celtics are a really good team, it's just not a good recipe for winning a playoff game.
"I think it's a little bit of both," Nurse said. "It's one of the games where I thought we did a pretty good job of shot creation. Probably not near enough, but certainly had our chances there. I thought that not making them affected us a little bit in defensive transition and a little bit defensively. I just think we didn't execute very well at the defensive end and some of the things we wanted to do and put ourselves into a deep hole."
Open shots rarely fell for the Sixers, from near or far. And Boston shot so well throughout the day that getting out and running for Philadelphia was practically impossible. The Sixers starters shot just 24-for-61 from the floor (39.3 percent), including 2-for-16 from three-point range. Boston starters, on the other hand, made 33 of their 59 attempts for 55.9 percent, including 9-for-22 from three.
Tatum, just 17 games back after missing 10 months with a torn Achilles', made sure this one was over pretty quickly with his stellar first half.
"He did a good job of getting downhill, I thought," said Nurse. "And we were caught in just not very good help positions with him, which just can't happen. He got to some space and we can't let him do that. That's the biggest thing."
So much to fix, so little time. And if the Sixers are going to make the series a longer run that it may look right now, they'll have to do it quickly.
"It is disappointing, but it's one game," said George. "We've got a series and we've got a chance to play them again Tuesday. So, sweep this under the rug and try to learn from it."
