Derrick White sounds wrong about what went wrong with final play in loss to 76ers

BOSTON — With a game on the line Wednesday night, The Boston Celtics wanted to get the ball in the hands of star guard Jaylen Brown. But things didn’t play out that way at the end of the Green Team’s 117-116 loss to Philadelphia 76ers.

With just 1.6 seconds left in the one-point affair, Brown was well guarded and even wrapped up by Sixers guard Quentin Grimes. Instead of forcing a pass to Brown, first-year Celtic Anfernee Simmons tipped the ball to the reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard.

Although Pritchard has shown throughout his NBA career that he can achieve big resultshe was well defended and couldn’t make a potential game-winning jumper fall.

Pritchard misses two shots on the last possession and the Celtics fall 117-116 on opening night.

–@CLNSMedia pic.twitter.com/kRblIIA3Co

— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) October 23, 2025

After a season-opening loss, the Celtics are on guard Derrick White explained that dealing the final blow to Pritchard was not Boston’s initial plan.

“I mean, we were trying to get it to (Brown),” White said. “They did a good job turning him down.”

Despite the unfortunate outcome, White didn’t mind that Pritchard ended up with the ball. In fact, he said he wouldn’t necessarily adjust the final play if it were up to him.

“(Pritchard) came to the ball and obviously we trust P a lot in those situations,” he said. “So I wouldn’t change much.”

Pritchard had an early chance to steal the game for the C’s with 3.3 seconds left, but his layup attempt went off the bottom of the rim. He still finished with 16 points, five rebounds and two steals in the loss.

The Celtics had a chance to leave the opener with a win

To add to Boston’s frustrating finish, he actually had control of the game with about four minutes left until the final whistle.

Center Neemias Cueta just completed an acrobatic layup to give the Celtics a 109-100 lead with 3:47 left. Things went downhill from there, as the Sixers outscored the C’s 17-7 and capped off a blistering 42-point fourth quarter.

Brown, the Celtics’ and Boston’s leading scorer along with White – 25 points apiece – realized his team could have left TD Garden with a win.

“It’s tough,” Brown said when asked about not receiving the ball late in the game. “Definitely a winnable game for us. You know, we had some opportunities. Even at the end, we had some opportunities. We didn’t get it right. It’s a learning experience. It’s going to be a learning experience. We got a bunch of new guys from day one. We’re playing a new style. I thought we played hard today. I thought we made that mistake that’s worth the win.”

Jaylen Brown with a good response about the end of tonight’s loss and not getting the ball:

“It’s tough. Definitely a winnable game for us… We had some chances.”

“But I’m looking forward to watching film and learning and staying on the journey.” pic.twitter.com/iJKSOpZtI82

— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) October 23, 2025

With Celtics star Jayson Tatum is rehabilitating a torn Achilles and multiple starters from last year’s team undergoing offseason changes, the 2025-26 Celts are truly made up of a “bunch of new guys.” That showed on the defensive side of the floor, where the C’s allowed combined for 74 points for Sixers guards Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.

Overall, Philadelphia shot 40% from deep, while Boston shot 25.6% from deep. That disparity outweighed the fact that the Celtics won the turnover battle and were more efficient from the free throw line than the Sixers.

While the fourth-quarter lead and the one-point loss are disheartening, Brown knows it’s all part of the process, especially for a group of guys still getting to know each other.

“I’m looking forward to watching film and learning and staying on track,” Brown said. “We’ve got a new group that’s still figuring things out. Some of these other teams have been playing together a little bit longer, so there’s going to be some ups and downs. But I’m looking forward to just learning every day with the group. And I’m looking forward to when we get to that point where we catch the wind, and what that might be.”

Boston will soon have a chance to avenge its first season-opening loss since 2021. On Halloween, the Celtics will travel to Philadelphia for an NBA Cup showdown with the Sixers.

But before that, the Green Team will seek even greater revenge against the New York Knicks, which knocked them out of the 2025 NBA playoffs in six games. The 0-1 C’s and 1-0 Knicks meet at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.