3 observations after Sixers get smoked by Celtics at home

The Sixers’ post-James Harden trade euphoria ended Tuesday night. And it wasn’t a gentle letdown. 

The team was crushed by the Celtics, who extended their wining streak to nine games with a 135-87 victory at Wells Fargo Center. 

Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Jayson Tatum posted 28. 

In 26 minutes, Joel Embiid had 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Harden had an eventful day — he was formally introduced at a noon press conference and rang the Sixers’ ceremonial Liberty Bell before tip-off — but watched the game from the bench. He’s out through the All-Star break. 

The 32-year-old, who missed the Nets’ final three games before his trade to the Sixers with left hamstring tightness, said Tuesday his hamstring "feels really good.” The Sixers’ first game after the break is Feb. 25 against the Timberwolves and the team’s next home contest is March 2 against the Knicks. 

Celtics big man Robert Williams III was out with right calf tightness. Marcus Smart suffered a right ankle sprain during the second quarter. 

The Sixers’ final pre-All-Star business is a road matchup with the Bucks on Thursday. Here are observations on Tuesday’s blowout loss: 

Horford foul trouble no problem for hot C’s 

Boston scored the game’s first seven points and opened up a 12-point first-quarter lead, though Al Horford headed to the bench earlier than planned.

Horford was physical on Embiid, trying to bump him and force catches as far away from the hoop as possible. He picked up his second foul with 8:45 left in the first, which led Boston head coach Ime Udoka to insert Daniel Theis and use Grant Williams against Embiid. The 6-foot-6 Williams received ample help whenever Embiid started a move in the post.

Embiid capitalized on the mass of bodies constantly around him by drawing eight free throws in the first quarter. Almost nothing else worked offensively for the Sixers, however, while Boston began 10 for 13 from three-point range and took a 52-28 lead on a Brown triple that had the Celtics skipping to the sidelines following a Sixers timeout. Embiid didn’t make a field goal until a mid-range jumper with 5:47 to go in the second quarter. 

Matisse Thybulle couldn’t make the Celtics pay for conceding open threes to him, shooting 0 for 6 from long distance. Thybulle also committed a turnover when he caught the ball in the dunker spot and fired a wild pass back out to the perimeter intended for Paul Reed. Meanwhile, Boston kept draining jumpers and Brown extended his team’s advantage to 27 points on a long, contested three over Thybulle. Both Brown and Tatum were tremendous in recording a combined 42 of the Celtics’ 69 first-half points. The entire Sixers team equaled them. 

In a fitting finish to the first half, Embiid was whistled for traveling with 6.4 seconds left attempting a Harden-esque step-back jumper. Brown then hit yet another three. 

A debut heavy on garbage time

For the third consecutive game, Reed played behind Embiid.

He was responsible for a few of the Sixers’ rare positive plays not involving their All-Star center, including an offensive rebound that led to a Shake Milton basket and a fast-break dunk off of a Milton assist. Andre Drummond’s rebounding will be difficult to replace, but Reed is genuinely talented at keeping balls alive and contesting potential boards. 

Paul Millsap entered with the Sixers down 43 points and played nine fourth-quarter minutes. The fans still in attendance appreciated that he pulled down a couple of rebounds on his first offensive possession and made two three-point shots.

There's nothing profound to be extracted from a 48-point loss, but Millsap can now check off his first NBA action since Jan. 13. He'd clearly prefer for his next appearance to come in a more competitive game, though he still was glad to get some playing time. 

“Man, it felt great," said Millsap, who'd been working out and playing pickup games in Atlanta while awaiting a trade from the Nets. “It felt good to be on the court playing basketball. A little disappointing under the circumstances, but it felt great to get back out there.”

Only way forward is up, right? 

The best part about Tuesday's game for the Sixers is everyone who appeared in it stayed healthy.

This was as poorly as they’ve played all season. To see the team’s standard be so low across the board despite Embiid’s presence was a bit jarring, even if lack of focus figured to be a possible issue amid the Harden-related excitement. Teams with MVP candidates like Embiid shouldn’t ever trail by 45 points in the third quarter. 

“We didn’t have much," Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said. “Offensively, it’s as poor as I’ve ever seen us — ever. And then defensively, they made more threes than we made twos. They got everything all game. They were better tonight in every way — coaching, playing, and if there’s another category, they were better in that. There’s not a lot you can do about tonight.”

All of the above does not negate that Tatum, Brown and the Celtics were on their A-games, though, making both wide-open and incredibly difficult shots. 

The earliest the Sixers could meet Boston again is the playoffs, since the regular-season series is over (both teams won twice). There's almost no imaginable scenario in which the Sixers play worse against Milwaukee on Thursday. 

“I don’t like to say these games happen, but you don’t get much out of these," Georges Niang said. “You might as well flush it and move on, and remember the feeling — what it felt like to sit on the bench and watch it, or be in the game and be a part of it. And never let that happen again. There’s not really much else to say.”