Sixers Fall to Boston Amidst Team Tragedy

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Boston 111, Philadelphia 91 – Box Score

Tragedy hit the Sixers family Thursday when rookie Joel Embiid learned following morning shootaround that his younger brother Arthur had passed away in Africa. In the wake of the news, coach Brett Brown, Sam Hinkie, and friend/mentor Luc Mbah a Moute rushed to be with the 20-year-old in the city, as what was once a fairly meaningless preseason game became that much less significant.

Still, there was action on the hardwood to be played, and as assistant coach Chad Iske led the squad, it became readily apparent that the players’ hearts were not in the game. Boston quickly jumped out to a 20-5 advantage, as the Sixers committed bone-headed mistakes, made lazy passes, and left Celtic after Celtic wide-open defensively. It’s no secret the Sixers have a subpar NBA roster in even the best of circumstances. Then, with three starters unavailable (MCW, Mbah a Moute, and Nerlens Noel who missed the game with a respiratory infection), and the team’s focus understandably being with their grieving teammate and not on the task at hand, the Sixers never stood a chance. Jared Sullinger and Avery Bradley put up 21 and 20 points, respectively, combining to shoot 10-15 from behind the arc, to lead Boston.

Other game notes:

• Hollis Thompson was back in action after missing time with a scratched cornea; he looked rusty shooting just 1-4 from three (1-5 overall). He’ll have a few more games to work things out and return to his early preseason form before the games begin to count.
• Arnett Moultrie recorded 16 points and 9 rebounds, but shot 8-19 with what was an endless array of chucking 18-footers. He may be in better shape, but I still view him as little more than a poor man’s Marreese Speights (minus the hilarious twitter account). I don’t mean that as a compliment.
• Tony Wroten was the lone Sixer to look like he had a pulse early on. He had a sensational over-the-shoulder pass to Henry Sims in the lane, but Sims botched the wide-open lay-up. Wroten also came out of nowhere on the weak side to block a Jeff Green drive, while shooting 2-3 from behind the arc on the night. His backcourt mate for the evening, Elliot Williams, had a nice showing as well, displaying his hops in throwing down a two-handed dunk through traffic, and also hitting a pair of threes. Williams tied Wroten for a team-high 17 points.
• Finally, for those fans of schadenfreude, Evan Turner did not have the best of nights, as he barely grazed the back of the rim on his first and only three-point attempt, and shot just 2-8 while committing a game-high 8 turnovers. He did have 10 assists, but come on, the Sixers weren’t really playing defense.

The Sixers will next take the Magic at the brand-new arena in Allentown. Unfortunately for those in the Philadelphia area, no more preseason games will be televised locally, because the Sixers are stuck in some sort of time warp where such broadcasts are an elaborate undertaking.