Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse was disappointed in his team's lack of energy and toughness in their Game 4 loss to the Boston Celtics.
The Philadelphia 76ers (1-3) were blown out by the Boston Celtics (3-1) 128-96 in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday night.
The matchup marked the return of 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid, but Philadelphia simply could not keep up with Boston's electric outside shooting display. The Celtics shot 24 of 53 from the arc while the Sixers knocked down just nine of their 30 attempts from the outside.
76ers coach Nick Nurse was clearly disappointed in his team postgame, sending the players a blunt message.
"Well, the tactical stuff isn't going to mean anything if we're not going to play with better energy, toughness, guarding, rebounding," Nurse said. "You don't even know if your schemes and what you're trying to do is working. So that has to take up a good portion of what we're doing; it's going to have to be a big mental pickup, then we can get to the schematic stuff."
76ers rookie guard V.J. Edgecombe agreed with his coach's assessment of the defeat. When asked what the most disappointing part of the loss was, Edgecombe replied, "Effort. Our effort was horrible."
Philadelphia 76ers guard V.J. Edgecombe. © Eric Hartline-Imagn ImagesEdgecombe had quite a rough outing, finishing with six points, four rebounds, an assist, and a steal on 22.2% shooting and 0 of 4 shooting from three-point range in 36 minutes of action. He has not made a shot from three-point range since Game 2.
Despite concluding as the team's leading scorer with 26 points, it was obvious Embiid was not anywhere close to 100%. No one expected him to be, as he's just over two weeks removed from surgery. Whether Nurse's remark about energy applies to him is tough to say.
One player who certainly needs to perform with more aggression in Game 5 is All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey, who attempted just three shots in the first half. He was still able to finish the night with 22 points on 50% shooting, but the 76ers need much more from him to take down the Celtics and extend the series further.
Game 5 is on Tuesday at 7 PM ET in Boston.
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