The Philadelphia 76ers’ postseason opener unfolded as many could have predicted. Joel Embiid had a good game against Boston – 26 points and 16 rebounds – but the 76ers didn’t have enough depth or firepower to get the win. The Celtics, with 32 points from Jayson Tatum – not to mention 29 from Jaylen Brown – won 109-101 to go up 1-0 in the series.

Thoughts on the Sixers’ overall performance?

“They showed a lot of fight,” NBA writer Sean Deveney said on The DA Show. “The Celtics had them down a couple of times, and obviously they were able to storm back a little bit. But it’s all going to be about Joel Embiid. Every time the Celtics go up against the Sixers, it’s pretty much the same thing: they try to hammer the ball to Joel Embiid, it’s probably going to be successful early – as it was [Monday] – [but] they just wear him down. They keep throwing different looks at him, they make the entry passes difficult on him, they’re physical with him, they’re not afraid to use up the fouls on their big guys against Joel Embiid – and by the time they get to the fourth quarter, he’s got nothing in the tank. 

“That’s been the pattern every single time the Celtics have played the Sixers, especially in the playoffs,” Deveney continued. “I think we’re going to continue to see that. Philadelphia, as much as they’re paying guys like Tobias Harris and Al Horford, they don’t really have the firepower to withstand bad nights from Joel Embiid. I just think the Celtics are going to be able to force enough of those bad nights to where they should win this series, maybe even fairly quickly.”

It seems the 76ers could really use Jimmy Butler right about now.

“They acquired Jimmy Butler and they paid a fair price for him, and then they let him go,” Deveney said. “It was pretty obvious that he was the guy who was going to put them over the top or not. To keep him for less than a season and let him go, this is the kind of thing that Sam Hinkie was absolutely against. When you talk about The Process, this isn’t Sam Hinkie’s Process. He’s the one who started the thing. He would not have brought in a guy like that . . . [and given] up assets and then let him go for nothing the way the Sixers did. 

Butler played just 55 games for the Sixers. He is now top dog for the Miami Heat and averaged 19.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists this season.

“There [were] questions about whether [Butler] would get along with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. I don’t care,” Deveney said. “If you’ve got Tobias Harris and you pick him over Jimmy Butler because the guys get along with Tobias Harris better? No. No, that’s not how you’re going to make your decisions. You’ve got to make your decisions on what makes us a better basketball team – and everybody else better get in line with it or we’ll have to look to make other deals.

“I always cringe a little bit when people criticize The Process because this isn’t The Process,” Deveney continued. “This is not what Sam Hinkie had in mind, what the Sixers have done with Bryan Colangelo and now Elton Brand in charge.”