The 76ers, refreshed by the NBA All-Star break, had some bounce when they initially trotted on the Wells Fargo Center floor Thursday night a like a rested Border Collie.

They had a week off to heal up and brace for the 28-game sprint to the end of the regular season. There was reason to be optimistic – until the second quarter. That’s when it started to become evident that nothing changed during the break.

The Boston Celtics rolled to a 124-104 victory in a game more lopsided than the final score would indicate. The loss dropped to Sixers to 20-35. It was their sixth straight loss and eighth in nine games.

“Yeah, it sucks,” Tyrese Maxey said after a game that began with a sense of urgency, only for it to end in disappointment.

“Like you said, you have some urgency out there,” he added. “You know that every game is going to be important for us. But at the end of the day, it happened, and you got to live with it. And you have to face it head on, and then worry about it tomorrow and fix what we need to fix and come out here on Saturday and play Brooklyn.”

The Sixers looked like a squad with no answers. Perhaps looking for anything that would work, coach Nick Nurse inserted David Roddy, who was on a 10-day contract, into the game in the third quarter. (The 6-foot-4 power forward will sign a two-way deal the Sixers). That also didn’t work against the defending NBA champion Celtics (40-16).

Defense is the area that Sixers need to fix the most. Boston did whatever it wanted to do against Philly’s seemingly invisible defense. Nurse said the Sixers’ lack of ability to guard was the most disappointing part of the loss.

“Too many wide open shots,” he said.

Boston made 24 of 54 three-pointers and shot 48.3% from the field. Even that number is misleading, considering the Celtics shot 50.7% through three quarters.

Payton Pritchard made 8 of 15 to finish with a game-high 28 points. Jayson Tatum finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth career triple-double. The Celtics also held a commanding 48-26 advantage in bench points. Meanwhile, the Sixers made just 8 of 39 three-pointers.

“They were aggressive,” Joel Embiid said. “They made shots. Obviously, we couldn’t keep up because we missed a lot of the same, you know, threes that we took.”

Paul George had a nice bounce-back game, scoring 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting after posting two points against the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 12, the final game before the break. However, 12 of George’s points came in the first half. Maxey added 16 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. also posted 16 points, while Embiid finished 15 points and three rebounds.

Gordon update

Thursday marked the third consecutive game that Eric Gordon has missed with a sprained right wrist.

“He’s seen two specialists, and we still don’t know what to do,” Nurse said. “There’s a problem with it. They’re trying to decide the course of action with it to get it better. We’re just unclear on that right now.”

The shooting guard will see one or two more opinions before the team decides the proper steps to take moving forward.

“It’s very concerning, because I think there is a scenario that could hold him out for a long time,” Nurse said. “I think there’s a scenario that doesn’t as well. So it gets concerning whenever that’s on the table.”

Justin Edwards (sprained left ankle), Kyle Lowry (right hip injury) and Jared McCain (left knee surgery) were also sidelined. McCain is out for the remainder of the season.

Waiting on Lonnie

Lonnie Walker IV agreed to a two-year, $3 million deal to play for the Sixers on Tuesday after buying out of his contract with Lithuania’s Basketball Club Žalgiris.

However, the Reading native, who played AAU basketball for Delaware County-based Team Final, has yet to join the team.

» READ MORE: Reading native Lonnie Walker IV agrees to two-year, $3 million deal with the Sixers

“Anytime now, not tonight, but anytime after that,” Nurse said jokingly of when Walker will join the squad. “I think you know how that goes with the international paperwork and all that stuff. I think they’re mailing that clearance thing. It’s in the mail. No, it should hopefully be ready to go the next game.”

Up Next

The Sixers will entertain the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at The Center. The Nets took a 20-34 record into Thursday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. This weekend’s matchup will be the fourth and final meeting for the Atlantic Division teams. The Sixers hold a 2-1 series advantage.