76ers: Three Takeaways from Loss vs. Celtics

On Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Boston Celtics, with hopes of bouncing back from their loss the night before hand.

This wouldn't happen though, as the Celtics came out on top, 117-107, giving them the one game lead in the Eastern Conference standings.

Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey gave it their all, dropping 20 points a piece, with the defending MVP sitting one rebound and three assists away from recording his first triple double of the season.

De'Anthony Melton also had a notable night, scoring 16 points, which includes five buckets from down town, beating out his total by one make from Tuesday night.

What were the takeaways?

Robert Covington's return to the line up

While not his first game back in the Sixers' starting lineup, Robert Covington made his return felt against the Celtics, dropping 16 points while also grabbing six rebounds.

One thing that was missing from his performance was his consistency from beyond the arch, as Covington, who is Philadelphia's second all-time three point leader, only trailing Allen Iverson, went 0-5 from deep against Boston.

The former Tennessee wing soaked in the extra minutes though, clearing his slate of the 16 minute, two point outing he had against the Indiana Pacers the night prior.

Lack of quality From Philadelphia's bench catches up to them

One thing that was apparent throughout Philadelphia's loss on Wednesday night was their offensive inconsistency from their bench.

In the first quarter alone, Marcus Morris and Patrick Beverly played nearly five minutes while both of them failed to convert any shots, with the former Clipper partnership ending the match with zero points to their names.

To add to this, Danuel House Jr. and Furkan Korkmaz, who received notably less minutes than the Beverly and Morris, also failed to contribute offensively off the bench.

This isn't to say that the Sixers' bench was entirely empty as Jaden Springer and Paul Reed put up an admirable 19 points, including a three from the Sixers' back up big man.

No Porzingis, no Brown, no problem For Boston

Prior to the start of Wednesday night's match, it was confirmed that the Celtics would be without both Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, with the first being ruled out due to a non-COVID illness and the latter due to a right knee collusion.

Usually, this would be bad news, given that the duo is a major part of Boston's system on both ends of the court, combining for an average of 41 points per night.

This wouldn't be the case though, as Jayson Tatum and Derrick White stepped up, combining for 56 points.

Former Sixer Jrue Holiday torched his opening team in the opening quarter, dropping ten points, while also recording a steal.