Nick Nurse calls out 76ers’ ‘huge problem’ in Game 4 Celtics carnage

After putting up a spirited effort in Game 3 which provided much hope despite their 108-100 loss to the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers fell flat on their face in Game 4 on Sunday. They started off the first quarter with such lethargy and fell behind by 16 points after 12 minutes of game time — and that was all she wrote. Philly could not dig themselves out of that hole, falling behind 3-1 in the series after being punched in the mouth to the tune of a 128-96 loss in Game 4.

Circumstances seemed to be lining up in the 76ers’ favor. Joel Embiid, after missing the first three games of the series, returned to action and assumed his regular spot in the starting lineup. But the entire team crumbled around Embiid, and head coach Nick Nurse couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that the Celtics outhustled and outmuscled a 76ers team that was supposed to be able to match their physicality.

“I don’t know why we couldn’t block out better or rebound better or move better on defense or whatever. It’s hard to watch and it’s hard to explain, too,” Nurse said after the game, per Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice. “They were more aggressive, quicker, wanted to chase them down more than we did. Just didn’t seem like we could get bodies on them… It was a huge problem.”

A huge problem that was indeed for the 76ers. The Celtics found their groove from beyond the arc, hitting 24 of their 53 shots from deep, so being unable to win the rebounding battle (Boston hauled in 51 total boards, 14 offensive, compared to just 30 total for Philly) proved to be quite the recipe for a disastrous blowout loss at home.

The 76ers’ back is now against the wall, and they have to dig deep if they were to send the series back to Philly with a resounding win in Game 5 on Tuesday night at 7:00 AM E.T.

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