On this opening night, the Sixers fell to the Boston Celtics 112 to 95 at the Garden. The team committed 24 turnovers as part of a sloppy performance, but that’s not what anyone will remember from this game. They will instead remember the dominant performance of Jahlil Okafor in his debut. Okafor’s showcase was awe inspiring. The rookie big man collected 26 points on 10 of 16 shooting while going 6-6 from the line. That is remarkably efficient for anyone, let alone a rookie big man in his first game. Jah started off on a tear. He made his first 5 shots in the first part of the opening quarter. He scored in a variety of ways. He abused Zeller in the post. He made some moves from then high post and also hit a few midrange jumpers. He was everywhere on the offensive end in the beginning part of the game.
Alas, this couldn’t last forever. Okafor slowed down as the game went on. The Celtics denied him the ball and sent doubles his way when he did catch it. The Sixers in certain parts of the game did not seem particularly willing or capable of getting him the ball in good position. Jah also ran out of gas as the game went on. Still, he finished strong in the latter parts of the fourth quarter which I was happy about. He needs to cut down on his turnovers (he had 8) and attack double teams in an aggressive but smart way in order to get others involved, but considering the circumstances, I am more than happy with how he performed. We will have to continue to watch Big Jah throughout to year to see how he develops, but this is about as perfect of a debut as you could have imagined.
Other Notes
- Nerlens also looked really good in this game. He ended his night with 14 points, 12 boards, 2 blocks, and 3 steals. Noel managed to be a defensive force despite playing the four. I’m not convinced he can as effectively anchor this team defensively from the four as he could from the center position, but nights like tonight go a long way towards proving me wrong. Noel’s handle looked relatively tight despite committing 4 turnovers. Nerlens needs to attack quickly and decisively in order to maximize his ability off the dribble while keeping turnovers down. Tonight, he just dribbled too much and was hurt by slow-developing moves. He scored some out of the post, but a lot of it continued to look awkward and herky jerky. The jumpshot looked good as he hit a few midrangers, but he took a turnaround fadeaway 18 footer that didn’t go so well.
- Boston’s bench looked great. They had 67 points tonight, including 27 from Isaiah Thomas. They were really the difference in this game as the Sixers second unit was pretty useless. The Sixers second unit was probably worse as a result of the player they missing. The team was missing three starters in Marshall, Stauskas and Covington. They were also missing their scoring punch off the bench in Tony Wroten. Without these guys, it forces bench guys to play with the starters and deep bench guys to play more minutes. This hurts everyone and clearly impacted the team’s performance tonight. Hopefully when those guys get back, the Sixers can raise their performance.
- Turnovers also killed the Sixers in this game. They committed 24 which turned into 34 Boston points. They were just sloppy throughout the whole game. I expected Boston to create turnovers with high ball pressure, which they did some, but most of the Sixers turnovers were unforced or the result of a careless pass. Winning may not be important at this point, but the team still can’t just turn the ball over for no reason.
- I was surprised by the distribution of frontcourt minutes. Jahlil played 38 minutes and Nerlens also spent a ton of time on the floor while Wood and Holmes just didn’t get as much run in this game as I expected. Maybe it was because they really struggled, but I expected Brown to stick with them for longer than he did. The lack of front court depth continues to be a concern at this point in the season without Furkan. I hope to see Brown correct this in future games. Jahlil just won’t hold up playing that many minutes a game over the course of a season. Also, Brown said he planned on playing Jahlil in a lot of different short spurts so he could get into better shape while making sure he learns how to play hard. It is a great strategy and I don’t want Brown to stray too far from it.
- Some role players stood out as positives. Canaan was really good. He spaced the floor by knocking down some big threes. He finished with 18 points on 4-10 from distance. Isaiah did not create much for others, but that isn’t his game. For who he is, Canaan was awesome tonight and I was pleasantly surprised. I also really liked how Jakarr played. I am super high on him and think he can be a legitimate role player for this team in the future. Sampson just needs to tighten up his handle and continue to be a defensive monster. He should work on his shooting, but the handle seems more correctable at this point and with his feel for the game, Jakarr could be a legitimate secondary ball handler from the wing position if he improves his dribbling ability.
- However, other role players didn’t do so hot. Hollis Thompson, the back-up bigs, Jerami Grant and TJ McConnell all really struggled tonight. Thompson in particular had an off night as he shot 3-15 from the field. He also just didn’t look comfortable out there which was weird. Hollis has been here for three years. He should be comfortable in an NBA game and honestly needs to play better. Still, there was a silver lining for him. It was good to see him shoot so much. It may be strange to hear that after seeing how much he struggled, but he has been too passive in the past so it was good to see him just let it rip. Hopefully, he can make more shots in the future while just playing a better overall game because the team has invested a decent amount of time in Hollis.
- Lastly, in a non-basketball note, the Sixers new color commenter Alaa Abdelnaby did a solid job tonight. He was insightful and honest. He clearly understood the direction of the team and the future plans. Abdelnaby knows that the team needs to focus on individual and collective improvement as opposed to wins at this point. He also may or may not have had me in his corner as soon as he used the term proprioception in the context of basketball. Malik is going to be difficult to replace, but Abdelnaby is off to a good start and hopefully he can improve as the season goes on.
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