The only thing that you can ever bank on with these Sixers: nothing will make sense.
Nothing has made sense during the first 48 games of their season, and Sunday evening's game against the defending champion Boston Celtics was no different. At first, the Sixers appeared on the verge of blowing out the Celtics, as Tyrese Maxey and Guerschon Yabusele led the charge against a Celtics team which could not find a groove.
Then an avalanche ensued: an unspeakably dominant fourth quarter from the Celtics, whose massive talent advantage finally showed against a team missing Joel Embiid and six other players. Facing a team which has infamously made their lives miserable for years, the Sixers once again found themselves on the wrong end of a heartbreaking loss. They led by as many as 26 points, only to see the lead evaporate in an instant.
Here is what stood out from a gutting 118-110 loss:
Maxey's stellar night wasted
Maxey very well may be in the midst of the best stretch of basketball he has ever played, a wild thought given all of the factors working against him at the moment. Maxey has taken the significant defensive leap he made early in the season and paired it with the sort of dynamic scoring that earned him an All-Star nod last season. With 16 points in a dazzling first quarter, he tormented an elite Celtics defense from the outset:
Tyrese Maxey was in his bag vs. Boston in the 1st 🎒
1️⃣6️⃣ first quarter points for Maxey 💪
📺: ESPN pic.twitter.com/xVnGp7h8f6— ESPN (@espn) February 2, 2025
A brilliant night from beyond the arc helped Maxey, too, as the fifth-year guard had reached 25 points for the 14th consecutive game just a few minutes into the third quarter. Maxey did much of his early damage against reigning NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, who was Maxey's primary defender in the seven-game playoff series between these teams a few years ago. Things got chippy between Maxey and Brown at one point in the second half, but cooler heads prevailed.
Maxey's versatility as a scorer is what Sixers head coach Nick Nurse continues to harp on, and it was on display in this one. Maxey, who just a game ago torched the Denver Nuggets with relentless drives to the basket, instead toyed with the Celtics largely as a jump-shooter.
Jaden Springer hopes to solidify his standing with Celtics
When the Sixers selected Springer with the No. 28 overall selection in 2021, the Tennessee product was very much a developmental project. Springer was one of the youngest players in the entire draft class and extremely raw offensively. Springer's athletic and physical traits were tantalizing, though, and it enabled him to defend opposing guards at an extremely high level. Springer was finally appearing to emerge as a rotation piece in his third season with the Sixers, but the team decided to pull the plug on the project, sending him to the Celtics for a second-round pick. (That pick turned into the No. 41 overall selection last June, which the Sixers used to draft Adem Bona).
Ever since, Springer has not received many chances to play. The Celtics, of course, are loaded. So Springer watched from the bench as his new team won a title, and entered his fourth season the subject of trade rumors as the team looks to reduce its luxury tax bill.
But Springer has made a late push in recent weeks, making a strong case to stick around in Boston as he changes games with his defense. Springer swung an overtime game into a Celtics win last month, entering the game in the third quarter and notching four steals before connecting on two pivotal clutch corner threes.
The Jaden Springer Game: pic.twitter.com/Qfto1XTIxT
— Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) January 23, 2025
"[Springer is] more comfortable in his offense," Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said before the game. "He's done a great job of just doing what we've asked him to do, just the professionalism, working every day, staying ready and executing when we need him to. He's been great in that regard. So he's got to continue to do that. But I like the strides that he's made on the offensive end."
Odds and ends
• After a lackluster start to the game, Boston's first two substitutions were both former Sixers, as Springer checked in alongside Al Horford. As you could guess, the crowd did not respond positively when public address announcer Matt Cord said Horford's name. Springer was summoned to try to slow down Maxey, his former teammate who was already red-hot.
• Perhaps the most important, unheralded aspect of the Sixers' 61-44 first half performance: Kelly Oubre Jr. grabbing nine rebounds. Many of Oubre's boards were contested and most of them felt meaningful. His aggression on the glass has helped elevate his value to another stratosphere.
• Guerschon Yabusele has had a special season, and it continued with another strong showing against his former team. Yabusele, a first-round pick of the Celtics in 2016, gave the Sixers steady offense all night long. His second triple of the third quarter, which gave the Sixers a 21-point lead in the third quarter to cap off a long run, ignited the crowd in a major way.
YABUUUUUUUUUU FOR 3! And the Sixers' lead over the Celtics is now 21! pic.twitter.com/60hsznRc4v
— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) February 3, 2025
Up next: A fascinating opponent is up next for the Sixers: they will play host to the new-look Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night after the Mavericks shocked the world by trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers. Anthony Davis suffered an injury in Philadelphia last week — his final game as a Laker — so his status remains to be determined.
MORE: How does Lakers-Mavericks blockbuster impact Sixers trade talks?
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