Sixers Look Listless in Loss to Celtics

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Coming off one of the biggest letdown games imaginable in Saturday’s loss to Memphis, the Sixers needed to get back into action and put that outcome behind them in the worst way. Early on, it looked as though they were able to get back to why they able to build an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter over the Grizzlies in the first place, as the Celtics looked disinterested and the Sixers jumped out to an 11-2 advantage. Unfortunately for Sixers fans, it was all stormy skies from there on out, ironically enough because of a man they call Sunshine.

Kelly Olynyk, who Celtics teammates call Sunshine after a similarly flowing-haired Remember the Titans character, rained points on the Sixers all game on his way to a career-high 30 points. The big man entered the game earlier than usual when recently installed starter Tyler Zeller picked up 2 quick fouls, which turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for Brad Stevens’ club. Olynyk wasted no time getting things going, scoring 14 points in the first quarter to turn that early Sixers lead into a 5-point Boston advantage after one period of play, a lead from which the Celtics would never look back.

All in all, Olynyk shot 12-17 from the floor, hit 3-5 threes, and collected all the hustle stats, with 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. The former Gonzaga star was feeling it so much that he was actually pulling up himself for threes on the fast break. His scoring outburst shouldn’t have been a complete surprise to the Sixers, as his previous career-high was 28 against them back in April (although, three-quarters of the Sixers roster has turned over since then). Still, it looked more like Olynyk was simply the one playing at a higher energy level with everyone else just sort of going through the motions.

To be fair, there was one other player out there who matched Olynyk’s energy, and that was Sixers rookie Nerlens Noel. Noel was the lone bright spot for his team offensively, finishing with a career-high 19 points on 9-12 shooting, to go along with 8 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. The big man showed off the full arsenal of offensive weapons, finishing some nice post moves, hitting a couple jumpers, and showing some needed aggressiveness with this fierce putback slam:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUMxPQxNI-U]

We’ve seen flashes of all these things from Noel, but it was terrific to see it all displayed at the same time. It’d been even better if that was a more consistent occurrence going forward.

Other Game Notes:

• K.J. McDaniels returned to action after missing a game with an injured ankle. The rookie continued the shooting slump which has completely derailed his premature rookie of the year campaign. McDaniels finished 2-10 from the floor and 0-4 from three, and his percentages on the year are now all the way down to 41% and 32%, respectively. At least he didn’t look as though the ankle was bothering him, swatting away 3 Celtics shots and doing this:

• Tony Wroten went scoreless in 30 minutes, with 4 turnovers against just 1 assist. Wroten had his best game in a while against his former team Saturday night, but wasn’t able to build off that effort at all. The Sixers guard was just lobbing lazy passes that were getting picked off, and didn’t have his usual attacking mentality. He only took a single shot in the painted area where he usually makes a living (even if it’s not always a good living). I don’t know what was up with his seeming lack of fire Monday night but hopefully, it was just a one-game blip.
• Furkan Aldemir made his NBA debut, and scored 2 points in 10 minutes of action. He collected 2 offensive rebounds, which is going to be his calling card on the offensive end along with a willingness to set solid screens. The young man just arrived in the country a couple days ago from Turkey, so there’s certainly a period of adjustment to be expected before we should make a full evaluation of his game at this level.
• NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was at the Wells Fargo Center and conducted interviews with both Molly Sullivan and Sixers radio man Tom McGinnis. Both interviewers brought up Silver’s position that sports betting is more or less going on everywhere so the federal government should put it in a legal position in order to regulate it properly. No secret here, but Silver continues to impress me as an innovative, progressive thinker, who really has the best interests of the sport in mind (and not just stuck mired in the status quo). When compared to what’s going on with the NFL, it’s quite refreshing. You can check out Silver’s interview with Molly here.

The Sixers host Charlotte on Friday. It’s certainly a winnable game against the Hornets, who currently sit at 6-18 and are already rumored to be trying to move on from recent free agent acquisition Lance Stephenson. As they proved Monday night against the Celtics though, when the Sixers don’t bring a focused effort, even bad teams can blow them out.