Sixers fall 126-117 to Celtics after sluggish showing in NBA season opener

BOSTON — The 76ers just didn’t have enough.

Tuesday’s season opener against the Boston Celtics was the first of many early-season barometers. Their 126-117 loss at TD Garden could be an indication that, even after offseason upgrades, they still aren’t deep enough to contend for a title.

It also showed there could be some bad blood between Sixers All-Star Joel Embiid and Celtics guard Marcus Smart, who got into a second-half tussle. Smart said after the game that Embiid tried to injury him.

And the game showed that the Sixers (0-1) still commit too many turnovers. They committed 14 turnovers on a night when James Harden, Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris combined to score 100 of their team’s points. But outside of the Sixers’ Big Four, the team combined to produce 17 points on 7-for-18 shooting (38.8%).

And the Sixers struggled to make stops despite having upgraded the roster with three-and-D players this offseason. The Celtics shot 56.1% from the field, including 57.9% after intermission.

“We gave up way too many transition points,” Harden said of the Celtics scoring 24 fast-break points on 11-for-13 shooting. “We gave them 20-plus points in transition. That’s the game right there, especially a team that just came from the Finals, been together for a few years easy opportunities, easy buckets makes it more difficult on ourselves.

“So we can’t let this happen.”

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Matisse Thybulle vows offseason extension talks won’t affect his play: ‘It’s not my negotiations’

Harden did his best to keep the Sixers in the game with a team-high 35 points, the most he’s scored in a Sixers uniform. Embiid had 26 points and 15 rebounds to go with six of his team’s turnovers. Maxey added 21 points. Harris put up 18 points.

But that wasn’t nearly enough in a game where the Sixers scored the final seven points in garbage time, making the game appear closer than the final outcome actually was.

“We can always be better, especially that second unit,” reserve guard De’Anthony Melton said. “Our job is to keep the energy high, keep the pace going. It’s the first game. So we are still understanding how to play within each other and play with the starters at the same time.”

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both scored 35 points to pace the Celtics (1-0).

Boston honored late Celtics great Bill Russell on a night that marked the first of two Bill Russell Tribute Nights. Russell, a Hall of Famer and 11-time NBA champion, passed away on July 31 at the age of 88.

The team unveiled their special Bill Russell tribute 2022-23 City Edition uniforms after a 15-minute pregame ceremony that featured a video tribute, a speech from Jaylen Brown, a spoken word presentation, and a song. Then there were more video tributes during breaks in game action.

It’s still up for debate if Harden has regained his explosion. But the Sixers point guard is definitely over the left hamstring tightness that hampered him last season.

He kept torching Smart, the reigning defensive player of the year, and any other Celtic assigned to guard him.

Harden made 9 of 14 shots, including 5 of 9 three-pointers, and all 12 of his foul shots along with a game-high eight assists and eight rebounds in 38 minutes. He scored 16 of his points while playing the entire first quarter.

Harden’s highlight was a first-half step-back three-pointer on Smart.

» READ MORE: Happy and healthy, James Harden is enjoying fresh start with Sixers: ‘It’s relief. It’s like, let’s just go hoop.’

What’s a Sixers vs. Celtics game without Smart and Embiid getting into something? Early in the second half, Smart fouled Embiid on a post-up, knocking the two players to the floor. Then the Celtic guard received a technical foul for grabbing Embiid. Brown and Embiid then had words while Embiid was on the floor. The players had to be separated.

“I don’t know; it’s basketball,” Embiid said. “Emotions. The first game of the season. Rivalry, Boston, Philly. ... So it’s all good.”

That marked at least the fifth time Embiid fell to the court on Tuesday.

But Smart was angry with the way he felt Embiid pulled his arm.

The guard said he went for a rebound then a steal.

“Referee blows his whistle, calls a foul,” he said. “I stop play. My arm’s still stuck in there and he tries to break it. And then I’m the only one to get a tech.”

After being the third center in the preseason, Montrezl Harrell was the first player off the Sixers’ bench. The 2020 NBA Sixth Man of the Year subbed in for Embiid with 5 minutes, 10 seconds left in the first quarter.

“I literally came in just prepared to do my job and go out when my name was called,” Harrell said. “Simple as that. I didn’t know what the minutes was gonna be tonight. I didn’t know when my name was gonna be called.”

The first three Sixers off the bench were all new additions. De’Anthony Melton and Danuel House Jr. came in for P.J. Tucker and Tyrese Maxey at the 3:39 mark of the quarter. Returnees Georges Niang and Matisse Thybulle also came off the bench as the Sixers played 10 players in the first quarter.

At one point, the Sixers had a lineup of Harden, House, Melton, Harrell, and Niang on the floor.

Russell meant a lot to Sixers coach Doc Rivers, who coached nine seasons in Boston and won the 20182008 NBA title.

“He meant a lot before I arrived just for what he stood for, what he went through, being the first Black coach and then a winner,” Rivers said. “I still don’t think he gets enough credit. He did so many things. I don’t think we talk enough about his winning, not just on the NBA level everywhere we went, he won.”

Two of Russell’s NBA titles came as a player-coach. He also led the University of San Francisco to two NCAA titles and led Team USA to the gold medal in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

Russell, who died at the age of 88, was more than a basketball star. As a dedicated human rights activist, he fought against racial inequality both in and out of sports.

“The thing I remember the most is how emotional he was when we won it [in 2008],” Rivers said. “I actually thought that with all the ex-players. You don’t see that very often. It’s just the connection that they have to this franchise.

“But he was visibly emotional and that was cool.”