How bad was it? A look at some bleak 76ers stats after gruesome loss to Celtics

We waited all year for this? The 76ers opened their 2026 postseason with one of the ugliest playoff losses in franchise history. The Celtics beat the 76ers 123-91 at TD Garden, a 32-point loss in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference 1^st-round series.

In the last 30 years, there have only been two worse losses in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference 1^st-round series – the Pistons lost by 35 to the Bucks in 2019 and the Knicks lost by 33 to the Heat in 2012. 

The good news? Last time the 76ers lost a Game 1 in any playoff series by at least 30 points they came back to win the series.

Feeling optimistic now?

With a hat-tip to Stathead, here’s our five-best stats off the 76ers’ 2026 playoff opener.  

HOW BAD WAS IT? The 32-point loss matched the 7^th-worst playoff loss in 76ers history. They’ve lost nine postseason games by 30 or more points and five have been against the Celtics, including the last two. It was the 76ers’ worst Game 1 loss in any playoff series in 44 years, since a 121-81 loss to the Celtics at Boston Garden in 1982 – the so-called Mother’s Day Massacre – in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Finals series. The 76ers came back to win that series before losing to the Lakers in the NBA Finals. The 32-point loss was the 76ers’ 5^th-worst this year, including the regular season. The 32-point loss was also the 76ers’ worst ever in their first postseason game of any season. The previous worst was a 25-point loss to Oscar Robertson and the Cincinnati Royals in Game 1 of their 1964 Eastern Division Semifinal series, a 127-102 loss at Cincinnati Gardens. The win was the Celtics’ biggest in 41 years in a Game 1, since they beat the Lakers by 34 (148-114) in Game 1 of the 1985 NBA Finals at Boston Garden.

HEY, THEY JUST MISSED ANOTHER 3: The 76ers shot just 4-for-23 from 3 for 17.4 percent. That’s their 2^nd-worst ever in a playoff game in which they attempted at least 20 3’s. The only worst performance came in a 111-102 loss to the Nets in 1999 at the Wells Fargo Center, where they were 3-for-25 for 12 percent. This was the first time in 76ers postseason history they made four or fewer 3’s while allowing 16 or more. It’s only the eighth time in NBA history a team has allowed 16 3’s in a playoff game while making four or fewer. The last five teams that have done that have done it against the Celtics. The 76ers haven’t had a regular-season game with four or fewer 3’s while allowing 16 or more in 12 years, since a 114-93 loss to the Trail Blazers at Moda Center in 2014. 

GRUESOME PLUS-MINUS NUMBERS: For only the second time in franchise history, the 76ers had eight players at minus-10 or worse in a playoff game: Tyrese Maxey (minus-29),        V.J. Edgecombe (minus-26), Justin Edwards (minus-21), Kelly Oubre (minus-21), Andre Drummond (minus-19), Dominick Barlow (minus-15), Quentin Grimes (minus-13) and Paul George (minus-10). They also had eight at minus-10 or worse in that 2023 loss to the Celtics (Joel Embiid, Danny Green, James Harden, Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle and Maxey). Edwards somehow managed to be minus-21 despite playing just 17 minutes. Only four 76ers have had a worse plus-minus in a playoff game in which they played 17 or fewer minutes: Eric Snow was minus-21 in 13 minutes vs. the Bucks in 2001, Elton Brand was minus-23 in 15 minutes vs. the Celtics in 2012, DeAndre Jordan was minus-22 in 17 minutes vs. the Heat in 2022 and Paul Reed was minus-21 in just 11 minutes vs. the Knicks in 2024.

NOT ONE BUT TWO GUYS SHOOTING BLANKS: Kelly Oubre and V.J. Edgecombe were both 0-for-5 from 3, making this the first playoff game in 76ers history where two guys took five or more 3’s and didn’t make any. They both tied the 6^th-most 3-point attempts in a playoff game without a make. 

IT WAS NEVER CLOSE: The 76ers’ 15-point deficit through the first quarter was the 6^th-largest in franchise postseason history and largest since an 18-point deficit against the Pistons in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference 1^st-round series in 2008. The 18-point halftime deficit was 9^th-largest in 76ers postseason history. And the 24-point deficit after the third quarter was 11^th-largest.