The 76ers traveled to Boston to face the Celtics in Game 1 of their 2026 NBA playoff series and got blown out in a 32-point loss to the 2024 NBA champions (91-123). Philadelphia’s offense had no rhythm tonight as Tyrese Maxey was the only player who managed to score above 20 points in arguably the most important game of the year so far.
Maxey ended up with 21 points, eight assists, and one rebound while shooting 8-20 from the floor (40.0 FG%) and 1-4 from beyond the arc (25.0 3P%). Following the game, Maxey spoke to the media at the press conference and gave an insight into the locker room atmosphere while speaking on the frustrating nature of the loss.
“I’ll say this, like I think this is my fifth playoff. So losses, whether you lose by seven, 12, 100, they all hurt. They all don’t feel good. But this one, you know, it s—s. You know, we didn’t expect this at all,” said Maxey.
“But we just got to play better. You know, Paul said something that kind of registered in my mind, like ‘They didn’t feel like it was a playoff game. We did, but they didn’t. You know what I’m saying? They just did us easy. They feel like it was an easy game, and that’s not okay. Like, we’ve got to make them more uncomfortable.”
Paul George was the second leading scorer for the 76ers tonight, and had only 17 points, four rebounds, and one assist while shooting 4-8 from the field (50.0 FG%) and 1-2 from beyond the three-point line (50.0 3P%). George also spoke to the media after the game and addressed the offensive struggles for the team tonight.
“I thought we had a lot of good looks. I thought we turned down some shots, but we also had a lot of good looks, a lot of chippy ones that we usually make at the rim. Yeah, I thought it was just one of those days where we missed some easy ones, to be honest,” said George.
“Would it have made a difference? I don’t know. You gave our team 123 and shot 50%, you’re not going to win like that on the road. If you let a team shoot 50% at home, it’s going to be tough in the playoffs.”
“But this would’ve made the game a little bit better. Would’ve kept us in striking distance had we made some of those easy ones. But it’s just one game, hopefully we’ll be better with them in Game 2,” Paul George concluded.
Since the 76ers could potentially be without Joel Embiid for this entire series, Paul George will have to take up the veteran responsibilities of leading the team in the locker room as well, if not on the court. And George kept it frank with his teammates about how the Celtics seemed to be perceiving them.
The Celtics seemingly put the game away in the third quarter and led by as many as 35 points at a time in the game. They are now set to host Game 2 in Boston on Tuesday, April 21.
While the 2024 NBA champions will hope for a repeat of such an emphatic performance, the 76ers will hope that Tyrese Maxey and Paul George come out swinging from the front if they hope to have a chance of winning Game 2 and not repeating tonight’s underconfident performance on offense.
