On the night of Joel Embiid‘s heroic return after an emergency surgery, the Philadelphia 76ers suffered a 128-96 blowout loss at home to the Boston Celtics. While the players had every reason to be disappointed, Tyrese Maxey blamed himself for letting the 76ers down.
During his postgame media availability, Tyrese Maxey was asked about his limited offensive impact in the first half, especially since he only attempted three shots. The 76ers’ star took accountability for his passive approach and responded:
“That can’t happen. That’s on me. That absolutely can’t happen. That’s just unacceptable by me. I was playing within the flow of the game. It kind of just happened that way. But that’s on me. That’s absolutely unacceptable. It wasn’t meant to happen that way. We can’t win basketball games with that happening, and I take full responsibility on that one.”
Tyrese Maxey took a major step toward becoming the face of the 76ers’ franchise this season. While leading the team in scoring, with an average of 28.3 points per game, Maxey also contributed with 4.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 2.4 steals, positioning him as one of Philadelphia’s most reliable players.
On Sunday night, despite a poor start, Maxey still recorded 22 points, two rebounds, and six assists on 7-14 shooting from the field. While this is a respectable performance in every sense, considering what is at stake, it is apparent that Philadelphia needed more from its star.
Nick Nurse Baffled By The 76ers’ Loss
Tyrese Maxey’s slow start, while underwhelming, wasn’t the only reason for the Philadelphia 76ers’ poor outing on Sunday night. From errors in defensive execution to an inability to score consistently from beyond the arc, an amalgamation of mistakes left Nick Nurse at a loss for words when breaking down his team’s performance.
While addressing the loss in Game 4, Nurse commented:
“It just didn’t seem like any matchup could guard anybody one-on-one tonight. We had them pushed out, bottled up, and physical- just an off kind of rhythm for a couple of games, and there was none of that tonight. I’m just not sure… I don’t know why we couldn’t block out better, rebound better, move better on defense, or whatever.”
“Felt a little bit like Game 1,” he continued. “All of a sudden, we just jumped out of character real quick. It’s hard to watch, and it’s hard to explain, too.”
Nick Nurse’s response highlights the clear disappointment in Philadelphia’s approach in Game 4. While it was abundantly clear that the 76ers were punching above their weight in this first-round matchup, a convincing win in Game 2, followed by a competitive showcase in Game 3, suggested the team had found an answer. Unfortunately, this may not have been the case.
Apart from shooting 33-80 from the field (~41%) and 9-30 from three-point range (~30%), the 76ers allowed the Celtics, one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league, to go 24-53 from beyond the arc (~45%). Additionally, Philadelphia lost the rebounding battle 51-30, which is surprising considering Boston’s relative lack of size.
The 76ers’ head coach seemed particularly demoralized after Game 4, something that became apparent when he was asked about his plans for the next game.
“The tactical stuff isn’t going to mean anything if we’re not going to play with better energy, toughness, guarding, and rebounding,” Nurse shared. “Like, you don’t even know if your schemes and what you’re trying to do are working. So that has to take up a good portion of what we’re doing.”
Nurse’s concerns are completely justified. With a 3-1 lead, the Celtics are in a great position to close out the series at home in Game 5. Given the negative momentum behind the 76ers at the moment, securing a win on the road may prove to be an uphill battle.
