KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The 76ers find themselves in a worse state than in May 2013.
That became evident by their being swept by the Boston Celtics in the best-of-seven first-round playoff series. The Celtics capped the sweep with a 110-106 Game 4 victory Sunday afternoon at The Field House.
The loss marked the first time the Sixers have been swept in the first round since 1989 and the third time in their history. In 1989, the team lost, 3-0, in a best-of-five series to the New York Knicks.
Boston’s Kemba Walker showed why he’s a perennial All-Star, finishing with a game-high 32 points, four assists, and two blocks.
Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Tobias Harris showed a lot of heart. The forward, who finished with 20 points, returned to the game after suffering a left-eye laceration.
However, the major question going forward is who’s going to be the team’ next coach.
The Sixers are expected to fire head coach Brett Brown soon because of the team failing to live up to lofty expectations and self promotion. Finding a new coach is far from their only problem.
The Eastern Conference is going be more competitive next season. The Milwaukee Bucks will remain a contender if Giannis Antetokounmpo re-signs in free agency. The Toronto Raptors, Celtics, Miami Heat, and Indiana Pacers will still be solid. And the Brooklyn Nets will be improved with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
Meanwhile, the Sixers could be a seventh-place team with more than $400 million tied up in Embiid, Ben Simmons, Al Horford, and Harris over the next several seasons.
But this wasn’t supposed to be end result of “The Process.”
The team hired Sam Hinkie back in May 2013 to lead their rebuilding effort dubbed “The Process.” The plan was to tank for multiple seasons to acquire franchise-altering players through the draft. They also wanted to accumulate numerous trade assets.
The plan was to build a team that would be championship-caliber , once the rebuilding was complete.
Initially, the Sixers didn’t look like a team ready to leave the bubble on Sunday.
They took a 32-27 lead into the second quarter thanks to getting to the foul line. They made 14 of 19 foul shots in the first quarter. Josh Richardson made eight of his nine free throws while also adding three assists. He missed all three of his shot attempts, but played with a lot of energy.
The Sixers’ emotions got the best of them a little in the second quarter.
Harris was stripped by Jayson Tatum and committed a foul on the Celtics standout with 4 minutes, 10 seconds before intermission. Harris then picked up a technical after arguing with the referee who made the call.
Tatum made the technical foul shot before splitting the two he was awarded on Harris’ foul to knot the score at 51. After Richardson was called for a foul on Walker underneath the Sixers basket with 39.8 seconds before intermission, he was also T’d up.
Walker missed the technical foul shot before making the other two to pull the Celtics within one point (58-57).
The Sixers took that lead into the half despite Embiid being off his game in the first two quarters. He had 11 points on 3-for-7 shooting and made just 5 of 10 foul shots. Meanwhile, Walker had 20 points on 5-for-7 shooting while getting anywhere on the floor that he wanted.
Brown joined the technical-foul club when he argued a non-call when Walker pushed off on Raul Neto while making a jumper. Walker converted the technical foul shot to give Boston a 77-73 lead with 4:26 left in the quarter.
Things got scary with 2:40 left in the third quarter when Harris suffered the laceration. He received stitches, was evaluated for a concussion and returned with 5:12 left in the game.
Harris suffered the injury when undercut while in the air defending on a play. His face smashed hard against the floor as he couldn’t react fast enough.
He was down on the floor for a couple of minutes, while several members of the Sixers staff attended to him, including Brown. Harris eventually walked off the court with a towel on his face and went straight to the locker room.
That appeared to take some life out of the Sixers.
Boston scored nine straight points after the fall to complete a 12-0 run to end the quarter and entered the fourth quarter with an 89-77 lead.
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August 24, 2020 at 03:25AM
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Boston Celtics complete sweep of Sixers, taking a 110-106 win and leaving Philly with a lot of questions - The Philadelphia Inquirer
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