Celtics show flashes, but 76ers claim season opener
Celtics show flashes, but 76ers claim season opener
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Celtics show flashes, but 76ers claim season opener

🕒︎ 2025-10-23

Copyright Boston.com

Celtics show flashes, but 76ers claim season opener

The Celtics showed flashes of what they can be at their best this season, but the 76ers got a historic rookie performance from VJ Edgecombe and a huge game from Tyrese Maxey to take the season opener. Here are the takeaways. VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey both looked incredible Rookie wing VJ Edgecombe looked more than worth the Sixers’ robust tanking efforts last season in his regular-season debut. Edgecombe broke the NBA record for most points in the first quarter by a rookie with 14, surpassing LeBron James’ record of 12, and he broke the Sixers’ record for points in a rookie debut of 30 set by Allen Iverson, pouring in 34 on 13-for-26 shooting, including several earth-shaking dunks. Point guard Tyrese Maxey, meanwhile, looked every bit up to the task of being the Sixers’ primary superstar this season, pushing the Sixers out to a halftime lead and pulling them back from the brink when Boston threatened to pull away in the fourth. Maxey finished with a massive 40-point outing, running rampant through a Celtics’ defense that struggled to get back and defend him whenever they missed shots. The Sixers are far from a perfect roster, but tanking last season appears to have worked wonders for them, and as The Process Pt. 1 appears to be coming to a close (more on that in a minute), they appear very well set up to begin The Process Pt. 2. The Celtics might regret letting that one slip At the risk of sounding overly reductive, the Celtics really need to get wins this season when the opportunities presents themselves, and Wednesday’s game was a prime example. On a night when the player best suited to hurt them looked like a shell of himself, and when they built a double-digit second-half lead against a shaky roster propped up by two superhuman performances, the Celtics couldn’t claim their first win of the season. That puts them in a precarious position over their first seven games. Their next contest is on the road against the Knicks, who are widely considered a genuine championship contender this season. That’s the start of a three-games-in-four-night stretch, during which their most beatable opponent (the Pelicans) is the opponent they face last. They then take on the Cavaliers (another championship contender), this 76ers team again, and the Rockets (yet another championship contender, who looked like a heavyweight in their showdown against the Thunder on Tuesday). When the dust settles, the Celtics could be in a tough position in the standings, and while it’s still clearly very early in the season, this is not last year’s roster – digging out of an early hole will be much more difficult. The Jaylen Brown/Derrick White tandem debuted well Brown and White scored 25 points apiece in their debut as the new Celtics stars. Brown dished out four assists early and shot 9-for-18 from the floor, and he played the kind of patient floor game the Celtics need from him in the absence of Jayson Tatum. White, meanwhile, went ice-cold with the rest of his teammates from three in the second quarter – at one point, the Celtics missed nine straight – but he came alive in the third, and he worked his way to the line seven times. Anfernee Simons looked like a nice addition The Celtics reportedly spent the summer checking on what they could get for Simons on the trade market, and that option is still likely on the table – this is, after all, a team very much in flux – but the early returns are promising. Simons was as advertised offensively. He hit multiple 3-pointers that barely disturbed the net on their way through, he attacked the basket in late-shot-clock situations and created offense out of nothing, and at one point in the fourth quarter, he exploded to the rim and elevated so quickly off the ground that Tyrese Maxey could only jump out of his way futilely as Simons thundered home a two-handed slam. Defensively, Simons was clearly trying to make a good impression. He was consistently down in a stance guarding ball-handlers, he ripped Maxey in transition at one point as the Sixers’ speedy guard flew to the rim, and – perhaps most importantly – he battled his way over and around screens without getting stuck, which has been one of his biggest problems as a defender. He still is unlikely to be a positive on the defensive end, but he was undeniably a positive overall. Simons finished with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting. On a team that lost its primary bucket-getter last season, he could make up some of the difference. The duality of Neemias Queta The Celtics got the full range of the Neemias Queta experience in the fourth quarter – the very good, and the very bad. Queta had a good game overall – 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting and eight rebounds, including two big offensive ones. In the fourth quarter, he scored on four out of five consecutive possessions including three in a row. The Celtics needed a big performance from a big man, and they got one. On the other hand, Queta committed a bad offensive foul setting a moving screen at a critical moment with 2:45 remaining and the Celtics nursing a four-point lead, and he fouled out a minute later sending Maxey to the free-throw line. Down the stretch, the Celtics needed Queta, who probably wouldn’t have short-armed the crucial put-back attempt that Xavier Tillman missed. The Celtics have a lot of flawed-but-useful big men who can each do a little bit of something, but not everything. Queta frequently shows flashes of brilliance followed by moments that will leave Celtics fans pulling at their hair. The Joel Embiid Era looks like it might be in peril The first indicator that the 76ers’ big man might not be entirely himself was that he didn’t jump the opening tip, leaving the job to 76ers starting forward Dominick Barlow, who also had the odd distinction of being an Opening Night starter on a two-way contract. The second indicator that Embiid wasn’t himself was the first Celtics’ possession, on which Neemias Queta set a screen for Derrick White, and Embiid stayed so far back in the lane, it was a little confusing who he was actually supposed to guard. Eventually, White spotted the amount of space he would have any time Queta set a screen, and the Celtics started going directly at Embiid whenever possible. On the other end, Embiid hoisted a few half-hearted jumpers and attempted one half-hearted post move against Xavier Tillman before bailing halfway through, and Tillman poked the ball away. When Embiid sat down halfway through the quarter, the Sixers looked more like a coherent basketball team. Things went from bad to worse the rest of the way. At one point, Embiid tried to post up Sam Hauser and failed to do any damage. His presence in the game coincided with the best offensive moments by far for the Celtics, and he sat late with just four points on 1-for-9 shooting. Embiid’s size and injury history always meant that his aging process was unlikely to be graceful, but it was still jarring to see him moving so poorly this early in the season. The Sixers have plenty of optimism on their roster, but the Joel Embiid era of The Process did not look like it was in a particularly good place on Opening Night. What’s Next The Celtics now hit the road on a somewhat nonsensical road trip: They will travel to Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks on Friday before flying to Detroit for a matchup against the rising Pistons on Sunday. When that game wraps up, they’ll travel to New Orleans to face the Pelicans on Monday.

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