Three Takeaways From Sixers' Opening NBA Cup Loss

This could be seen in their overtime thriller against the Washington Wizards in late October, when Embiid would end his night after a four-minute shift in the fourth quarter, despite the team making it to an extra period of play.

But Friday night was a different story, as Nurse opted to raise Embiid’s minutes restriction, allowing him to play until the final buzzer, finishing the game with a little north of 25 minutes on the court. Against the Celtics, the former MVP would record 20 points and six rebounds.

Tyrese Maxey tied a career-high

The main story surrounding Tyrese Maxey this season has been about his unprecedented performance on the offensive end of the court, averaging the second-highest points per game in the NBA, 35.2 points per night, leaving Friday night’s match against the Celtics.

But a different ability could be seen against Boston, as the former All-Star would thread the needle to his teammates on several occasions, recording a season-high 14 assists, which is tied for his career-high that he put up against the Chicago Bulls in December 2024.

While not being a career-high, it’s worth noting that Maxey was two rebounds shy of recording his second-ever career triple-double, showing that he was putting on an overall display against the Celtics.

There were some costly turnovers

While the aforementioned Maxey led the Sixers in several categories across the box score, one of those wasn’t something to be entirely proud of, as he recorded five turnovers on Friday night.

Not all of the Sixers’ 18 turnovers were by the former all-star, but each one of the 12 that were scattered through the second half kept halting the momentum that Philadelphia was trying to build and keep going as they brought themselves back into the match from a 24-point deficit.

Similar to Embiid’s minutes or Maxey’s assists, the 18 turnovers by Philadelphia were a season-high, which, to some capacity, played a role in picking up their first loss of the season.