What to Know
- In a back-and-forth contest, the Sixers came away with a 117-116 win in Boston.
- Payton Pritchard had two chances for a go-ahead basket in the final seconds of the fourth quarter but missed them both.
- Tyrese Maxey had 40 points for Philly, while rookie VJ Edgecombe had 34 points.
- Derrick White and Jaylen Brown had 25 points apiece to lead the Celtics.
- Check out more postgame reaction from Chris Forsberg on the Celtics Talk Podcast.
After a long wait for basketball to return to Boston, the Celtics and their fans left TD Garden disappointed on Wednesday night.
The Celtics got outscored by the Sixers by 12 points in the final quarter on opening night, with Philly doing just enough to earn a 117-116 victory in Boston.
Rookie VJ Edgecombe had an impressive debut for Philly, scoring 34 points — though his two missed free throws late in the fourth gave the Celtics the opportunity for a buzzer-beater to win the game. Payton Pritchard, though, missed the team’s first attempt, and after a baseline inbound, he missed a second potential game-winner at the buzzer.
Tyrese Maxey drove the win for Philly with his 40 points, while Joel Embiid was a minus-16 in his 20 minutes on the floor, scoring just four points.
The Celtics shot poorly from three-point range in the first half but hit their shots in the third, outscoring Philly 35-18 in the third quarter.
The Sixers’ surge in the fourth, though, ended up being just too much for Boston to handle, and the Celtics will start their season with an 0-1 record. They now hit the road for a three-game road trip to New York, Detroit and New Orleans.
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