Don't let the final score fool you. The Celtics were thoroughly outplayed by Philly

Jaylen Brown. Jayson Tatum. Head coach Ime Udoka. No one associated with the Celtics did much good in their 12-point loss to the Sixers which drops Boston (21-22) back to below-.500 for the season.

PHILADELPHIA – The Boston Celtics opened Friday’s game at Philadelphia with a 10-4 run, the kind of start that Celtics Nation should feel good about, right?

Not this year, not with this team.

Fast starts have far too often preceded futile, head-scratching stretches of play that leave the Celtics befuddled and beatdown, both of which were in play as the Sixers shook off Boston’s 90 or so seconds of success and cruised to a comfortable 111-99 win.

The final score did not do justice to how thoroughly outplayed the Celtics were in a loss that snapped a three-game losing streak and brought the team’s overall record this season (21-22) back to below-.500 status.

Head coach Ime Udoka talked about how he needs to do a better job of preparing the team going forward, and how his stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown tried too hard to carry the team on their respective shoulders when the going got tough.

He’s right.

Udoka certainly deserves a sizable slice of blame pie when it comes to this Celtics team that continues to underachieve just when it appears they are poised to turn the corner towards respectability.

But this Celtics roster has too many players who have been instrumental in shaping the narrative of this team which is one that's consistently inconsistent from top to bottom.

Boston has had tougher losses than what we saw tonight.

But that is part of the problem.

As the losses continue to mount, there has to be a growing concern that the pain of defeat over time, will be numbing to the point where they feel nothing.

When that happens, the Celtics’ worst fears will become a night-in, night-out nightmare that will make an already rought patch all that much tougher to overcome.

Here are the Stars, Studs, and Duds from yet another dud of a performance by the Celtics.

STARS

Joel Embiid: While Boston snapped Embiid’s streak of 30-point games at nine, that doesn’t diminish from what was yet another dominant performance by Embiid. He finished the game with a strong 25-point, 13-rebound, six-assist night on 7-for-15 shooting from the field. His scoring numbers could have easily been better than that, but Philly had so many other players that the Celtics could not contain, making the need for a big scoring game from Embiid not necessary.

STUDS

Tobias Harris: The shooting struggles have been well documented for Harris this season, a player who has been inconsistent in being Embiid’s sidekick. But against Boston, Harris was in a good rhythm all game before finishing with 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting to go with nine rebounds.

Payton Pritchard: On a night when the Celtics were outplayed at just about every position, Payton Pritchard was one of the few bright spots for the Celtics. He came off the bench and scored 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting. You don’t expect him to shoot that well all the time, but more than the shot-making was the fact that Pritchard played with the kind of confidence that they absolutely need from him going forward.

DUDS

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown: Much of the credit for Boston’s recent run of success leading into Friday’s deservedly went to the play of Boston’s 1-2 punch of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. No surprise that they deserve a hefty slice of the blame pie for Boston’s poor showing against the Sixers. While they combined to score 41points, they did so on a highly inefficient 14-for-35 shooting night. In addition to the crappy shooting, they also combined to commit 12 (seven for Tatum, five for Brown) of Boston’s 20 turnovers.