The Sixers’ starting center was unknown before Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon. With Joel Embiid (appendectomy) sidelined, Adem Bona wound up drawing the start.
Twenty-two seconds into the game, head coach Nick Nurse might have already been regretting his choice, as Bona committed a shooting foul.
Nurse, desperate to find a spark, started Andre Drummond in the second half, but he dealt with his own struggles. That was just one of many things to go wrong for the Sixers, who suffered their worst playoff-opening loss in franchise history, according to Basketball Reference.
The Sixers’ inadequate center depth was on full display in their 123-91 loss to Boston in Game 1. Neither Bona nor Drummond scored more than three points, and both struggled to hold their own defensively.
The Celtics present a matchup issue that the Sixers’ frontcourt can’t overcome, especially if Embiid isn’t able to play in the series.
“Not getting off to a great start, offensively,” Nurse told reporters after the game. “Getting in some foul trouble with both bigs, etc.
“So, the first quarter, obviously, was moving past us pretty quick, and we just didn’t do enough at either end to get in and settle into the game. I thought from the second quarter to about midway through the third, we finally got ourselves underneath us a little bit and played pretty good basketball, but the minutes around that was absolutely unacceptable.”
Bona entered the game coming off a three-block performance in Philadelphia’s 109-97 win against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. But he did not build on that outing, as his fouling issues persisted.
The sophomore was out of position when guarding Neemias Queta out of pick-and-rolls, failing to recover. Bona recorded three personal fouls, including an offensive foul while driving in transition, which just cannot happen.
The Celtics shot 63% on two-pointers, and Bona’s contributions to the Sixers’ poor rim protection was a factor. Although Bona has more upside than Drummond, he has yet to establish consistency, which has made it difficult for Nurse to consistently rely on him. That’s why he turned to the 32-year-old entering the third quarter, but he was not flawless either.
Drummond’s well-documented inability to guard in space reappeared Sunday. While Nikola Vučević had only three points, his floor-spacing ability pulled Drummond out of the paint, which gave the Celtics additional driving room. Boston also exploited his immobility off the point of attack, generating advantages that led it to shoot 16-of-44 from beyond the arc.
The Sixers’ frontcourt rotation was not the sole reason they lost in the fashion they did, but losing in the margins is how playoff series are determined. Drummond will have his moments like he did against the Magic when he hit two threes, and Bona’s athleticism will pop. But Nurse cannot depend on either for big stretches, especially against a well-oiled machine like Boston.
One of Philadelphia’s biggest needs at the trade deadline was to boost its frontcourt, but the front office did not address it. The Sixers’ inaction is even more glaring as the Atlanta Hawks acquired Jock Landale from the Utah Jazz for cash considerations ahead of the deadline. Landale averaged 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in 23 games with the Hawks.
Philadelphia had the ability to do something similar. Instead, it’s noww stuck with insufficient depth to handle games without Embiid.
ESPN’s Jorge Sedano reported that Embiid has not restarted basketball activities, and his status for this series looks unlikely ahead of Game 1. If Philadelphia remains without Embiid, it cannot look to its bigs to provide relief.
The Sixers are nearing dark times, indeed.
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