Boston Scored 144. Philadelphia Had No Answer.

Boston made 22 three-pointers in a 144-106 preseason win. Payton Pritchard scored 25 points and Jayson Tatum added 23.

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6ix Take: I know Philadelphia was missing important players, but 144 points is ridiculous. What interests me is Boston getting that kind of production without depending on one player to manufacture everything.

The Sixers were shorthanded and this is preseason, so I'm not turning one blowout into a season prediction. VJ Edgecombe's 19 points were a bright spot for Philadelphia.

Boston's 144–106 preseason victory over Philadelphia was a huge number on the scoreboard, but a preseason score is only useful if it tells us something about how players are performing. The Celtics made 22 three-pointers, Payton Pritchard scored 25 points, and Jayson Tatum added 23. The interesting part is the distribution: Boston did not need one player to dominate every possession to keep generating offense.

Pritchard's performance matters because the Celtics need reliable creation beyond their biggest names. Twenty-five points in an exhibition do not guarantee anything in the regular season, but the ability to produce within the rotation is worth watching. It gives the coaching staff another option when opponents try to load up against the primary scorers. That is a more useful takeaway than treating a preseason blowout as a championship prediction.

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Tatum's 23 points show that Boston's leading talent could contribute without having to carry the entire scoring burden. When the rest of the group is hitting shots, defenses face a difficult choice: give the star more attention and risk leaving shooters open, or stay attached to the supporting cast and let the star operate. The 22 made threes tell you that Philadelphia struggled to solve that problem in this matchup.

Philadelphia was missing important players, so the result requires context. A shorthanded preseason lineup is not a final verdict on a roster. Still, the players who were available had to defend possessions, contest shots, and find ways to slow Boston's rhythm. The score shows they did not do enough of that. VJ Edgecombe's 19 points gave the Sixers an individual positive in a game otherwise dominated by Boston's offensive production.

My 6ixTv take: do not crown Boston for dropping 144 in preseason, and do not bury Philadelphia because it surrendered 144 in preseason. That's lazy analysis on both ends. Boston should be encouraged by the shooting and by the way multiple players contributed. Philadelphia should use the tape to identify which defensive mistakes came from unfamiliar combinations and which came from execution that must improve regardless of who is on the floor.

What I want to see next is whether Boston can create those clean looks when the pace slows and the defensive pressure increases, and whether Philadelphia can prevent opponents from finding the same rhythm so easily. Those are repeatable basketball questions. The preseason score is entertainment; the decisions behind it are the actual evaluation.