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The Philadelphia 76ers opened their first-round series with a 123-91 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday, and head coach Nick Nurse did not hold back in his postgame assessment.

“Yeah, I mean a lot went wrong, that’s for sure,” Nurse said. “And I think it kind of started right from the beginning.”

Philadelphia fell behind early and never recovered, trailing 33-18 after the first quarter and entering halftime down 64-46.

“With not getting off to a great start offensively, getting in some foul trouble with both bigs,” Nurse said. “The first quarter obviously was moving past us pretty quick and we just didn’t do enough at either end to settle into the game.”

The Sixers shot 39% from the field and just 4-of-23 from three-point range, struggling to generate consistent offense against Boston’s defensive pressure.

“I thought we did do a pretty good job of shot creation,” Nurse said. “Not near enough, but certainly had our chances there and you just can’t kind of live in not making those.”

He pointed to missed shots impacting other areas of the game.

“I thought the not making them affected us a little bit in defensive transition and a little bit defensively,” Nurse said. “And I just didn’t think we executed very well at the defensive end.”

Tyrese Maxey finished with 21 points on 8-of-20 shooting, while V.J. Edgecombe added 13 points but went 0-for-5 from deep.

“I think they need to kind of let this one go,” Nurse said about his guards. “They had some opportunities… some pull-ups… that they’re going to hit most of the time.”

Nurse also criticized the team’s reluctance to shoot from beyond the arc.

“I didn’t really like our lack of three-point shooting, but our lack of three-point attempts,” he said. “I thought once we started got cold a little bit, we were turning some down. And we just can’t do that.”

Boston’s defense forced Philadelphia into hesitation, something Nurse wants corrected immediately.

“I really think there was a bunch of them we just didn’t take,” he said. “I think everybody decided they were going to pump fake and drive into the lane.”

The 76ers also struggled finishing at the rim, particularly without Joel Embiid, who remains sidelined.

“Wasn’t just three-pointers,” Nurse said. “At the rim… didn’t finish very good at the rim. The rim was a big factor in the game at both ends.”

Defensively, Philadelphia had no answer for Jayson Tatum, who recorded 25 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists.

“He just did a good job of getting downhill,” Nurse said. “We just were caught in not very good help positions with him, which just can’t happen.”

Nurse emphasized transition defense and turnovers as key issues moving forward.

“We certainly can’t give up that much in transition,” he said. “Too many turnovers that also were live ball that led to some of that transition.”

Despite the lopsided loss, the coach framed Game 1 as a learning opportunity.

“The biggest thing is you kind of got this one under your belt now,” Nurse said. “Got to learn from what you can and then you got to go out there and get ready to go and prove you can play better.”

Looking ahead to Game 2, his message was direct.

“We got to lock in on our film session tomorrow, lock in on our practice,” Nurse said. “And we’re going to have to come out and play a heck of a lot better.”