Boston Bench Bumrushes Sixers in Opener

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Boston 112, Philadelphia 95 – Box Score

For a while Wednesday night, the 2015 season opener was eerily reminiscent of the one from 2013. You remember, back when the Sixers knocked off the defending champion Heat on their way to a 3-0 start and a thousand ‘How are the Sixers doing this?’ articles. This time, instead of Michael Carter-Williams, it was Jahlil Okafor playing the role of dominating rookie first-round pick. Okafor initially looked like he was back at Duke, hitting his first 5 shots on a series of gorgeous post moves as the Sixers jumped out to an early 26-17 lead.

Jahlil Okafor resurrected the post game in half a quarter. https://t.co/vBykgCOrsQ

— Shamus (@shamus_clancy) October 28, 2015

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As expected though, the depth of the Celtics played a huge role against a Sixers roster with just 9 healthy players (Nik Stauskas, initially cleared to play from his leg injury, was declared out with back spasms right before gametime). Boston’s bench outscored the Sixers outscored 67-15, led by 27 points and 7 assists from Isaiah Thomas, whose relentless attacking and playmaking abilities were a constant thorn in the side for Philadelphia.

Nevertheless, the Sixers gamely hung around for most of the contest before they ran out of gas down the stretch. Most promisingly, the first look at the new Okafor-Nerlens Noel frontcourt drew rave reviews, as both players shined in the opener. Okafor dominated on the offensive end, hitting 10-16 from the field (and all 6 of his free throws!) on his way to 26 points. Per Basketball Reference, the 26 points are the 2nd-most by a center in a NBA debut since 1963-64, only behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 29. Big Jah is also only the 4th teenager, along with Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and Lamar Odom, to score 20+ points in his NBA debut over the last 50 years.

There were a few things to quibble about with Okafor, namely the 8 turnovers and how he looked too gassed to get back on defense on a few occasions. Regarding the conditioning, Okafor only played more than last night’s 38 minutes once while at Duke, a 41 minute stint in an OT win over UNC on 2/18/15. He was supposed to be brought along more slowly, but the injury situation forced Brett Brown’s hand on this night. As for the turnovers, he was constantly facing double teams in his first NBA contest; once some of the usable teammates start filing back into the lineup, that won’t be as much of a problem.

Meanwhile, the outstanding preseason for Nerlens Noel carried over into the opener. The sophomore big man wasted no time recording his first double-double of the year with 14 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with 3 steals and 2 blocks. Noel was his usual smoke monster self on defense, while he did a lot more to create his own shot offensively and showed off the improved shooting stroke by burying one jumper from the top circle. If these are the type of results we can expect from the new Sixers frontcourt for 81 more games, sign me up.

Other Game Notes:

• JaKarr Sampson was the only wing to have a nice game for the Sixers. While Hollis Thompson and Jerami Grant combined to shoot 5-22, Sampson went 5-9 for 13 points, while being the only Sixer to have a positive plus/minus (+1) on the evening. The freshly-shorn Sampson was active defensively and looked very in control attacking the basket. He certainly looked the most improved of returning Sixers aside from Noel.
• The Sixers’ need for a steady hand at the point guard position was glaringly evident in the opener. First, no one could set up easy buckets for others; the Sixers had just 12 assists on 34 made baskets (compare that to 31 assists on 39 made baskets for the Celtics). Additionally, the big men were forced to have the ball in their hands much too often. Those two things combined were large factors in the Sixers’ 24 team turnovers, which between that and the roster depth disparity were the two biggest reasons for the loss. Stay strong on your rehab schedule, Kendall and Tony.