Resting most of their rotation, Sixers crushed by Celtics in preseason action

The Sixers sat almost all their regulars and got crushed by a nearly full strength Celtics team in Boston Saturday night.

Preseason back-to-backs are fun aren’t they?

A heavily-resting Sixers team got smacked 139-89 by the Boston Celtics Saturday night.

The Sixers who had tonight off included Joel Embiid (who is not on this trip), Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, Kelly Oubre Jr., Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson and Kyle Lowry. So this is who they started with tonight with what they had left.

Jared McCain led the Sixers in scoring with 20 points. He shot 9-of-21 from the floor and just 1 -of-8 from behind the three point line. KJ Martin and Justin Edwards finished with nine points, Ricky Council IV, Jordan Tucker and Guerschon Yabusele finished with eight.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• Well, tonight we were given the Celtics broadcast feed, which was an upgrade from last night, but just slightly. Understandably, it was a struggle early for the Sixers to score points. They shot 31% in the opening quarter.
• The small-ball lineup with Yabusele at the five didn’t hold up great in the early going. Celtics starting center of the night Luke Kornet made four of his first shots to start the game. Adem Bona checked in shortly, and did manage to block Kornet once. He had plenty of moments where he looked like a rookie as well, biting on tons of pump fakes.
• Jared McCain’s night quickly started to resemble one of his summer league games. He couldn’t get a three to fall, though in fairness the team was 1-for-11 in that department in the quarter. The Celtics were able to pick on him a bit, but he had some scrappy moments as well. He stripped Jayson Tatum once and had a couple nice drives to the basket. Boston led by 22 after the first.

Second Quarter

• To add to the three-point shooting woes, Yabusele opened the quarter with an air ball in the corner. He did come back and sink the next two on the following possessions. While Justin Edwards couldn’t get a three to fall, he had some life offensively with six points in the first half.
• The Sixers did shoot much better in this frame, but they didn’t do much in the way of slowing down the Celtics either. KJ Martin’s hustle felt notable out there, but that might just be because he was one of few guys available tonight who’s been in an NBA rotation.

• No one on the team could buy an open jumper for much of the half, but Jeff Dowtin Jr. had a particularly rough half. He was 2-of-8 from the floor and 1-of-5 from three. There Sixers trailed at the break by 23.

Third Quarter

• McCain finally got a three to roll in at the beginning of the third. He had a couple nice drives to the basket, similar to the first half. He seems to have a good sense of how to leverage his strength.

• The lead only got uglier for Boston as this quarter resembled the first in how the Sixers were shooting. It was good to see Ricky Council IV hoisting up threes. He was just 2-of-8 through three quarters, but no other Sixer had made more than two threes either. The Sixers trailed by 45 after scoring just 15 points in the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter

• Max Fiedler checked into the game at the start of the fourth and scored a putback layup at the 10:01 mark. That was the Sixers’ first points in over seven minutes. Isaiah Mobley checked in not long after, meaning the entire bench had been emptied.
• Jared McCain nearly put the 7-foot Dmytro Skapinstev on a poster early in the quarter. He got all the way up there, but was just a little too hard on his dunk attempt at the back rim. It was surprising and impressive to see him go for it. It’s a shame he couldn’t finish it.
• The end of the game just became a race to see if another Sixers could get to double figures. The closest hope was Justin Edwards still in the game with nine points, but he was stuck there for the final eight minutes. Jordan Tucker had a bit of a late surge thanks to two triples and a pair of free throws, but he wasn’t able to get it done either.

• This road trip concludes Monday for the Sixers when they take on the Hawks in Atlanta. That game is scheduled to be on NBATV at 7:30 p.m. ET.