3 observations after McCain scores 20, young Sixers lose by landslide in preseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Three down, three to go.
The Sixers hit the halfway point of their preseason schedule Saturday night with a 139-89 loss to the Celtics at TD Garden, falling to 1-2 in exhibition play.
Jared McCain was the Sixers’ top producer, recording 20 points on 9-for-21 shooting, three assists, three rebounds and three steals.
The Sixers will finish their three-game road trip on Monday by facing the Hawks in Atlanta. Here are some observations about their blowout loss in Boston:
Celtics with a massive edge over the youthful Sixers
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse had a reasonable, conservative approach on the second night of a preseason back-to-backgiving most of his veteran players the game away.
That meant Guerschon Yabusele started in center against his former team and opened the night next to Jeff Dowtin Jr., McCain, Ricky Council IV and KJ Martin.
The confrontation was not close to even. Celtics center Luke Kornet scored 11 points in the first six minutes and Boston took a 40-18 lead on a Derrick White three-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer. The Celtics had gigantic advantages almost everywhere you looked – size, experience, All-Star talent. In less than 16 minutes, Boston’s advantage was 26 points.
It didn’t help that the Sixers missed several wide-open jumpers and started 0 for 9 from three-point range as a team. Two-way contract player Lester Quinones finally broke the ice late in the first quarter.
McCain’s game inside the arc
McCain grabbed a strong defensive rebound in the first quarter and then sprinted forward looking for a coast-to-coast rally. Jaylen Brown’s chase-down block attempt forced him to miss.
The 20-year-old shot just 2 for 8 from the floor in the first period, although both of his marks were impressive. He turned a sneaky shot around Kornet and made a delicate left-handed flick.
Especially on a team with three All-Stars in Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Joel Embiid, McCain may very well do much of his scoring behind the three-point line early in his NBA career. Still, it seems worth continuing to work on finding bits of space on his drives and improving his game about 6 to 12 feet from the rim.
As a 6-foot-3 rookie, he finds the balance between being an attacking, creative player inside the arc and adapting to the challenges of NBA size and athleticism. This preseason, he hasn’t been short on self-belief; McCain went right at an All-Defensive guard in White and scored an and-one layup on him. He narrowly missed a big layup in the fourth quarter as well.
McCain assisted Yabusele on back-to-back threes in the second quarter. He showed an innate feel for using his body in the pick-and-roll and beating teammates in rhythm on pops and rolls.
The Duke product’s preseason three-point numbers dipped slightly with a 1-for-8 outing. Through three exhibition games, he is 7 for 20 from long range.
Nothing going on yet for Martin beyond the arc
Martin’s athletic abilities popped whenever he had the opportunity to go downhill.
He scored the Sixers’ first points off a pick-and-roll with Dowtin. Then, he slammed home a quick lob from Council.
Martin played 28 minutes and posted nine points on 4-for-7 shooting, four rebounds and two assists. He only attempted one three-point shot Saturday night, missing a first-quarter jumper from the right corner.
If he could drain some threes before the preseason ends, Martin’s case for rotation minutes would presumably improve. While the Sixers want everyone to play to their strengths, Nurse spoke positively about Martin’s summer work with a shooting coach. Any in-game success during the pre-season would be significant.
