Philadelphia 76ers Lacked Trust vs. Boston Celtics in Game 6

The Philadelphia 76ers had a golden opportunity in front of them on Thursday as they hosted the Boston Celtics for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

After taking a 3-2 lead with an impressive Game 5 victory at TD Garden, the Sixers returned to the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly with a chance to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2001.

Despite playing in front of an electric crowd, the Sixers got off to a slow start. Offensively, the Sixers knocked down just 34 percent of their shots through the first half of action. Meanwhile, the Celtics lit it up from beyond the arc by knocking down nearly 50 percent of their threes.

The Sixers bounced back at the start of the second half. After trailing by over 15 points, the Sixers quickly chipped away at the Celtics’ lead in the third quarter. By improving their offensive attack and outscoring the Celtics 30-21, the Sixers changed the lead over and led by two points going into the fourth quarter.

Despite shifting the lead and gaining momentum on their side, the Sixers followed up with a disappointing fourth quarter. Knocking down just five of their 20 shots from the field and missing all eight of their threes, the Sixers stalled offensively in the final quarter.

In the eyes of the team’s head coach Doc Rivers, the Sixers lacked trust on the offensive end of the floor, which has been a common theme for the team in their losses during the series.

“I think the whole game, I don’t think we trusted very well,” Rivers explained. “It’s a make-or-miss league. They were 15-35 from three, and we were eight for 34. I would say we had a lot of wide-open threes. We didn't make them. I didn't like how we played overall offensively, though. Down the stretch, you got to play through the Big Fella more didn’t think the ball went there. I just got to watch the film, but I just didn’t think we had great trust tonight. I thought our guys all wanted to win. They played that way, and sometimes I think that gets in your way, and I thought that happened tonight.”

“That’s the key,” Joel Embiid said, agreeing with Rivers’ sentiment. “We didn’t move the ball. The offense stalled. We’re pretty good when we move the ball, play with each other, and the ball moves side to side. We get into our sets, I got to be more demanding, but we kind of went away from what was working at the beginning of that fourth quarter. As a big, it’s hard to go get the ball and just create for yourself, but I just got to go get it.”

While Rivers and Embiid believed the Sixers struggled with trusting one another throughout the duration of Game 6, James Harden and Tobias Harris summed up the struggles as simply missing shots they would typically make.

“There was some trust, we just didn’t make shots,” Harden said. “We make a couple of shots, we celebrate, it’s a different ballgame. Look at the film — it’s simple.”

“I thought we got some good looks there in the fourth quarter, they just didn't fall,” Harris added. “Obviously, we definitely could do a better job of moving around, get popping, getting it moving a little bit more, but overall, I mean, those are looks that we've gotten over all year, and we've made. So, in times like that fourth quarter when they don't fall for us, obviously, it’s heightened. Some of those possessions we could find a little more balance out there. We’ll adjust to that and be ready.”

The Sixers finished Game 6 by draining just 36 percent of their shots. With the offense going cold in crunch time, the Sixers fell short to the Celtics and collected a 95-86 loss. With that defeat, the Sixers will face the Celtics in Game 7 on Sunday.