Philadelphia 76ers: 3 takeaways from 2018-19 season opener

The 2018-19 season is off and running for the Philadelphia 76ers as they visited the Boston Celtics in a potential Eastern Conference Finals preview.

The season opener for the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics got off to quite the start to begin the 2018-19 campaign. The Celtics led the way at halftime 47-42 behind a balanced scoring attack, while the Sixers struggled to find their mojo outside of point forward Ben Simmons.

The Celtics won the game 103-87 in the end, thanks to solid bench play and an all-around team effort. Philadelphia turned the ball over 10 times in the first half and Boston capitalized by jumping out to an early lead. The Sixers finished the game with 16 turnovers.

Kyrie Irving had a rough game in his return, going 0-for-8 in the first frame. Irving finished with seven points in the contest. Forward Gordon Hayward showed a bit of his rust in his return as well, finishing with just 10 points in the contest, but still, it was too much Boston for Philadelphia.

Simmons led the way with 19 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists, four steals and two blocks, while Joel Embiid finished with 23 points and 10 boards. J.J. Redick chipped in 16 off the bench.

There’s no need to panic one game into the season if you’re Philadelphia. Lack of 3-point shooting and a lack of bench production proved to be too much to handle, but there’s plenty of time to make adjustments. Head coach Brett Brown has a bit of a conundrum on his hands going forward, but “The Process” was never meant to be easy. Here’s a look at three takeaways from the Philadelphia 76ers’ 2018-19 season opener.