Ending on a low note: Sixers 88, Celtics 79; Game recap and other notes

Kevin Garnett hands the ball off to Jeff Green in a Celtics loss on Sunday.

The most dreaded time of the year -- for players, coaches, all parties involved -- is over, and the fun is about to begin. The Celtics wrapped up their preseason schedule with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at the TD Garden on Sunday night. But now comes the hard part for a few people: the coaches and management who have to make roster decisions, and the players, who now have to take things a bit more seriously. But before we look ahead, just a brief recap of tonight's action.

The good:

For starters, Courtney Lee did a serviceable job defensively on Nick Young. Young, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason, was acquired to provide this team with a scoring punch. Lee's defense was evident off screens, as he would fight through them and continue to stick to Young. Although he had 15 points, they were a tough 15 points, and Lee made sure he earned every single one of them. 

Jeff Green was anointed the informal preseason MVP by Doc Rivers, and deservedly so. Green ended his preseason on a high note with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with 2 steals. His preseason averages were 13.9 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game. This is the player the Celtics thought they were getting when they traded for him. This is the preseason he needed to have in order to build some much needed confidence heading into the regular season. 

Paul Pierce looks like he's in fantastic age. Mr. Groundhog Day keeps on keeping on. This is an overall positive for the C's, not just a positive from tonight.

Jared Sullinger continues to impress many -- including myself. He had another solid game tonight, scoring 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting including 5-of-7 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed 6 rebounds. Although none of them were offensive, Sullinger made his presence known on the offensive glass, fighting for nearly every ball off the glass and sticking his nose in there. For the preseason, Sullinger averaged 10.9 points per game on 56% shooting and 7.0 rebounds per game. The more I see Sullinger play, the more I'm impressed and think that, a. he was an absolute steal in the draft, and b. he will be a starter for this team. 

The bad:

For one of the few times this preseason, there was actually not that much good in this one. While five guys had double-figures in points, the Celtics struggled on the defensive end and never found any sort of groove. While there is a lot of hype surrounding this team -- especially on the offense end with marquee offseason acquisitions -- this team had a lot of struggles defensively this preseason, something uncharacteristic of what we expect from this team. "I don’t want us to think we’re just going to outscore teams," said Rivers. "But if we can stop teams, with what we have on offense, I think we can be really good." He also said, "I like our team. I think we still have to be a better defensive team, consistently, to be a great team." 

The crowd at the TD Garden was very lackadaisical. You could definitely tell that this game meant nothing.

This team was very flat in the first half, and the Sixers closed the first half out on a 10-0 run.

Miscellaneous:

For those of you wondering, Jason Terry was told that he would not play in tonight's game. That concluded his preseason, a preseason in which he finished 18-of-26 from behind the three-point line, equaling out to 69%. Compare that to the guy he replaced in Ray Allen: 6-of-22 for a mere 27%. Seems like Danny knew what he was doing in letting Ray walk. This stat was courtesy of Sean Grande, the radio voice of the Celtics on WEEI.

And for those who were expecting to see Leandro Barbosa, he was all set and ready to don his number 12 Celtics jersey for the first time, until he was informed of a visa issue. Barbosa had to settle this minor issue, so he was unable to play. 

Rivers said after the game that he is not concerned with Darko Milicic's wrist injury and does not see it as a problem going forward. 

One injury that looks to be a problem is the back spasms of Chris Wilcox, who did not appear in a preseason game. Wilcox is coming off the same heart surgery as Jeff Green, and to see him hindered by this lingering back issue is a shame. Let's hope he can get back on the court as soon as possible. This team is going to need him too, as he provides the C's with size, energy, and the ability to run the floor. 

It seems that Kris Joseph has won the 15th and final spot on the roster. After back-to-back solid efforts on Thursday and Saturday night -- 11 and 13 points respectively -- Joseph came out and played another solid game tonight. He definitely helped himself and stepped up at the right time. When asked about Joseph, Rivers said, "I thought Kris Joseph really helped himself; I thought he played terrific. And we put him in terrible positions. We put him on the floor where him and [6-foot-7 camp invite] Micah [Downs] were the point guards. I mean, that's not fair to anybody. But he did other things. He's a terrific offensive rebounder at his position. So you like that in him." Doc also indicated that cuts to get the roster down to 15 could come as soon as Monday, and the team will be off until Wednesday.

And finally, last but certainly not least, the answer to the most pressing question of all of camp: who will be in the starting five? We finally have the coveted answer. But, there's one problem: Doc won't tell us. "I know exactly what it is," Rivers responded when asked about the lineup. 

And by the way, the countdown is on: 8 days. Bring on Miami.