Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers: 3 talking points, NBA 2018-19 Opening Night

The long wait is finally over as the NBA is back. The 2018-19 regular season started as the Boston Celtics faced the Philadelphia 76ers at home. Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward made their way back to the NBA after being out due to injuries.

The Philadelphia 76ers resigned Amir Johnson and JJ Redick in the off-season along with other additions and are definitely a team to watch out for this season. The two-strong Eastern Conference teams matched up and the Celtics defeated 76ers convincingly.

Through the course of this article, we take a look at three of the talking points from the 2018-19 season opener between these Eastern Conference powerhouses.

#3 Kyrie Irving has a lacklustre evening

Irving is back at it again after missing out the entire playoffs last season due to knee surgery. However, he had a game to forget as nothing went right for the 2016 NBA champ. He went 2-14 from the field and 1-8 from beyond the arc and only had 7 points on the night at the Garden.

This is not really a concern for the Celtics because we all know the kind of player that he is and since this is only his first game since the surgery, things are expected to be just fine. Although he struggled to score, he used his passing skill to hand out 7 dimes.

Kyrie was +9 on the game and that shows that he has impacted the game even when he was struggling and getting back from injury. The Celtics team will be wonderful to watch when Hayward and Kyrie start clicking together.

Hayward was not very great in his NBA return from devastating injury but definitely made an impression after scoring 10 points and collecting 5 rebounds.

#2 Jaylen Brown's shot over Embiid

Jaylen Brown had a great game and scored 12 points. Albeit missing a lot of shots and going for 5-13 from the field on the offensive end, he brought the juice on the defensive end and helped Celtics immensely.

He also had the moment of the game when he almost dunked all over Joel Embiid and put him on a vicious poster. With Celtics up by 13 and under seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, he put Embiid on a poster off the pass from Kyrie and the dunk sparked oohs and aahs. However, it was a lucky shot for Brown. Embiid almost blocked the shot, but the ball when into the net.

Brown finished the game with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. For the Celtics to be successful against strong teams like the Warriors and Rockets, they would need a lot from Brown and he is definitely going to be fun to watch this season.

#1 Jayson Tatum dominates the 76ers

Tatum dominated the 76ers throughout the game

After finishing as a finalist for last year's Rookie of the Year Award, Tatum picked up where he left off and dominated the 76ers throughout the game. He started the game with a jumper from the free-throw line over Embiid. With Celtics leading at 28-21, he intercepted a pass from Embiid to Ben Simmons and turned it into a fast-break layup.

The highlight of the game came in the second quarter when he dropped Covington after showing his handles and knocked down a mid-range jumper. He also used his court vision to find open teammates on multiple occasions who knocked down 3-pointers.

Tatum was aggressive in the paint and did not show any signs of hesitation attacking the rim ruthlessly. He finished the game with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists and went for 9-17 from the field.