76ers 117, Celtics 116

 

We lost the first game of the season but I'm not freaking out. The Celtics played well, battling back from a 6-point halftime deficit with a 16-0 third-quarter run. Trouble is, the Sixers played very well, with Tyrese Maxey dropping 40 and going 7-for-8 on threes, and rookie VJ Edgecombe, in an astonishing NBA debut, scoring 34 points and snagging seven rebounds. The Sixers went on a 15-2 run in the last 3:47 of the game, but the Celtics still managed to get off the potential game-tying shot as the clock expired.

Mr. Brown and Mr. White led the Celtics with 25 points each. Neemias Queta made a statement that he deserves to be in the starting lineup by scoring 17, including 7-for-8 field goal shooting and a team-leading eight rebounds. If the Celtics play like this all season, they'll win many more than half their games, but the Sixers and VJ Edgecombe weren't going to be denied this evening, TD Garden or not.

For whatever its worth, the Sixers Joel Embiid scored only four points all game, and was benched for the fourth quarter. 

Friday night, the 0-1 Celtics will travel into the grimy bowels of NYC and play the 1-0 Knicks in Madison Square Garden. Yep, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, and company. Those guys. Time for the C's to make a season statement of our own.