Another Boston Celtics game against the Philadelphia 76ers, another one possession game. Unfortunately, the Celtics found themselves a Neemias Queta putback away from sending it to overtime, falling to Philly 102-100.
Anyway, here's what stood out:
The City Edition uniforms look fine
I’ll admit it. I was skeptical of the Celtics’ City Edition uniforms from the moment I saw the leaks back in June. It just felt a little overambitious to try and make a Cs jersey without any green in the design.
Of course, Tuesday marked the debut of the new threads, and, to be honest. I kind of liked the way they looked on the TV. I think I’d still prefer for them to have green trim instead of black, but overall it’s a solid jersey.
In fairness, they could’ve given them just about anything after the “Action Green” design from last season, and I’d be happy.
Jordan Walsh has found his footing
For the fourth straight game, now, Jordan Walsh made his presence felt. Heading in, Celtics fans had their eyes on the third-year forward, wondering whether or not he’d be able to carry over the momentum from his game-sealing shot in Orlando.
The answer was no, early on.
At least on offense. Walsh got off to a cold start and couldn’t buy a basket, even though he was taking good shots within the flow of the offense. Fortunately, he made sure the lack of buckets went both ways.
Walsh spent the entire night flying around on defense, giving the 76ers a hard time at every opportunity. In particular, he did a good job of sticking with Tyrese Maxey, who’s had an incredible start to the season at 33 points per game heading into the matchup with Boston.
He had two key stops on Maxey down the stretch to give Boston a chance to win the game.
Plus, he found his offense more and more as the game went on.
Walsh finished with eight points, seven rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 29 minutes off the bench.
Whatever hot streak he's been riding might be real.
The Celtics are so good when Derrick White has his shot
Derrick White’s struggles through the first 11 games have made for a dominant early-season storyline. He’s played a reliable role in Boston’s offense since joining the team at the 2022 trade deadline, it just felt like a forgone conclusion that he’d rise to the occasion with Jayson Tatum recovering from a torn Achilles.
Prior to the game in Philly, he’d struggled to sink shots fans had watched him drill for years.
Tuesday night, water finally found its level -- specifically in the third quarter.
White caught fire towards the end of the frame, knocking down a pair of tough triples as part of a personal 8-0 run. He totalted 13 points in the frame on 5-6 from the field.
White made a huge three towards the end of Sunday’s win over the Magic. There’s a real chance that the moment did something serious for his confidence.
If so, it’s huge news for the Cetlics, who looked much more like the team many believed they could be before the season with White firing. His added offense helped a Jaylen Brown-less lineup not only stay afloat, but thrive.
I’m almost positive one of the rims was off
I have no significant evidence to back this claim up, but when the Celtics were shooting at the basket closest to their bench in the first half, they couldn’t buy a bucket. The Cs shot just 28% from the field in the first 24 minutes.
Once halftime came and went, Boston’s offense finally got all of the makes it was missing. Meanwhile, the 76ers went ice cold.
Wouldn’t you know, they’d switched baskets and inherited whatever shooting ailment the Celtics had in the first half.
Except for Justin Edwards, of course. Edwards literally could not miss for most of this game and was a huge reason why Philly got back into it early in the fourth and eventually came away with the win.