Jaylen Brown Talks Celtics' Defensive Issues After Loss to 76ers, Edgecombe Breakout

It seemed like the Boston Celtics were going to cruise to a season-opening win when they took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter of Wednesday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

And then they gave up 42 points in the final 12 minutes and lost 117-116.

"I don't know if we were too focused on the offensive end, but we can't just let guys come in here and just do what they want," Jaylen Brown told reporters when discussing the team's defensive issues:

Normally holding Joel Embiid to four points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field is a recipe to an easy victory against the 76ers, especially with Paul George sidelined by injury. However, Boston had no answer to the Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe tandem.

Maxey poured in 40 points behind seven made three-pointers, while Edgecombe exploded for 34 points on 13-of-26 shooting from the field. 

Giving up 40 points to Maxey is understandable, as he is a dangerous playmaker who averaged 26.3 points per game last season. However, giving up that many points to Edgecombe won't make Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla happy seeing how it was the rookie's NBA regular-season debut.

76ers-Celtics Full Highlights

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The No. 3 overall pick of the 2025 NBA draft finished with the most points for a rookie debut since Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain scored 43 in 1959. Chamberlain won MVP and Rookie of the Year during his first season while averaging 37.6 points per game.

Edgecombe surely isn't going to finish with those types of accolades in his first NBA season, but it was an encouraging start to his career. The 76ers are going to need him to be a primary contributor as Embiid and George work their way back from injuries that limited them last season, and he proved he can carry the offense for extended stretches against a fellow Eastern Conference contender.

And he also proved that Boston still has plenty of work to do on the defensive side.