Diving into the turnover bump that could plague the Celtics early this year, Robert Williams III and the new-look 76ers. Plus inspiring rookie debuts.
The Celtics lost — and turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter — as their biggest preseason concerned played out between Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart against the 76ers. The rookies thrived including encouraging shooting and playmaking from Payton Pritchard, but more questions emerged from the deeper levels of the Celtics’ center depth to start the year.
For the 76ers, Danny Green and Seth Curry looked good in their debuts and Tyrese Maxey looks like an effective slasher, but is any of it enough to bridge the fit concerns between Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid? The Rockets continues to shop Harden and Philadelphia likely gets him yesterday if Simmons is offered, but in a conference with Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo trading a young, elite defender like Simmons could further hurt them where they were week last year.