Sixers beat Celtics, but are still working to catch them
PHILADELPHIA >> Raised in Maine, basketballeducated in Australia, groomed as an NBA coach on Gregg Popovich’s bench in the deep south of Texas, Brett Brown was obligated to keep one promise to himself when his profession pushed him into Philadelphia.
He would learn and embrace and celebrate the city’s basketball history and customs. That meant he would comprehend, and comprehend quickly, that some odd sports force has been determined to link whatever it is the Sixers are doing to whatever is happening in Boston.
The images are iconic, Bill Russell bellying-up against Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving grabbing Larry Bird around the throat, Havlicek stealing the ball, the Boston Strangler stealing games in the Garden. Most are yellowed. Some are relatively new. It was only six seasons ago that the Sixers played a Game 7 in Boston for a right to compete in a conference final. Maybe that will happen again. Maybe?
“They have been,” Brad Stevens was saying Sunday. “hard to play against.”
The Sixers were difficult for the Celtics Sunday, winning 105-99, trying to narrow what has been a gap in the two franchises’ fortunes. Stevens became the Celtics’ coach in 2013, immediately went 2557, accepting a rebuilding process. By the time they rolled into the Wells Fargo Center Sunday, his Celtics were 44-25, leading the Atlantic Division, 18.5 games ahead of the Sixers.
Like Stevens, Brown had his first NBA headcoaching opportunity in 2013, immediately going 19-63, accepting a rebuilding process. But four years later, there were the Sixers, improved but doomed to another losing season. The dueling Sixers-Celtics histories aside, no two situations are ever identical. And the Celtics had one way of doing things, the Sixers another. But if the franchises are destined to be measured against one another, the Sixers are losing the latest matchup.
“I feel when you look at their players, they are veterans,” Brown said. “They are growing Jaylen Brown, who has done a good job. Since they drafted him, they have done a good job with the inclusion of Marcus Smart. But people like Avery (Bradley) and Isaiah Thomas and (Al) Horford, those are some veterans. It’s not ‘old’ wisdom. But they are old enough to give them that kind of title. They’ve grown that, in that spirit, and by that design. And I say that with respect.
“Do you look over your shoulder and look at them always? Yep. I think there is a lot to be learned from them.”
The Sixers can learn from plenty of teams. But through one general manager, then another, that hasn’t been a priority. While Danny Ainge has been acquiring useful players, including the pricey free agent Horford, the Sixers have been developing a plan. At some point, that plan might work and they will roar up on the outside, catch and pass the Celtics. But the Celtics are deep not just in mid-career skill but in young talent. So that imbalance is not likely to soon be corrected. While the Celtics are thicker than the Sixers in NBA-ready talent, Jaylen Brown is a strong Rookie of the Year candidate. And Boston well may wind up with the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, as they have the right to swap first-round picks with the inept Nets, who once looped that into a package for Kevin Garnett.
Should Brown choose, he could blame injuries. Joel Embiid, who was central to the Sixers’ plan, has had foot and knee miseries and has played in 31 games in three years. Had the center been healthy and properly developed, he could have been an MVP candidate by now, leading the Sixers into the postseason. And maybe if Ben Simmons hadn’t broken his foot in training camp, Brown could have had a playoff contender this season. It’s why he is comfortable with the Sixers’ situation, no matter what the standings reveal.
“I am,” he said. “You’d say that a little more freely if you could project out on health. And assuming everything is moving forward with the attention to people’s health and some good luck, I am extremely comfortable with our base. If you said, ‘Let’s throw Simmons and Embiid and (Dario) Saric and some of the guys we have been able to groom out there,’ I’d say this team has far more capable bodies and players that can move forward next year. Usually, you look at say there are six guys or there are four guys. But we have significantly more people. And you are excited to grow the program from this year’s group.”
That’s the Sixers’ story, plotted by upper management and eased by the bedside manner of their sports scientists. So are they closer to Boston than the standings shout?
“I think that’s a little bit arrogant for me even go there,” Brown said. “We’re unknown. Nobody knows anything about Ben Simmons. We think we know about Joel. We are learning about Dario. They’ve done it. They’ve done it. It’s completely unfair for me to say that.”
Until it isn’t, the Celtics will be there for the Sixers to chase. That’s the history, the one he has committed to embrace.