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Decipher wrote:Phila Tough wrote:Sixers in 6 still stands for me. We'll make adjustments and win both at home. Celtics shot 51 threes lol
Celtics average 43 attempts per game which is by far the highest in the NBA
Game 1 with 26 attempts was a far bigger outlier for them than this one
Negrodamus wrote:Smart, Brogdon, and Grant Williams went nuts tonight. If that happens, it doesn’t matter how Tatum plays.
HardenGoat wrote:If Harden remains healthy there is no reason we can’t win this game or the rest of them. He smells blood. There is nobody more motivated than him. This is a prove it year and he has a score to settle. I would make sure we stagger him with Reed and keep Embiid on a minutes restriction using primarily PNR plays. That allows paint collapse and kick outs. Let Harden keep working mismatches as he sees fit. I can see us losing if we revert to an Embiid centric post up approach.
SixthStreet wrote:We are 1-1 playing two road games, one without the MVP, and doom mode is back on the forum. Lol.
HardenGoat wrote:Barkley made a good point. When Embiid came back in the focus was to get him going. That becomes a mental block for the team but especially Harden. Joel should just let Harden run it the way he did first game with the players and focus on defense until the last quarter where he can put the game away. That’s what you use your stars for anyways. Embiid already has the mvp. Who cares how many points you score in the game. What matters is keeping the flow going and having a smooth moving offense those first 3 quarters.
Mik317 wrote:there are two potential takeaways from this one in terms of the series
1. **** happens. Home teams are 15-0 after losing game one. Team out of rhythm with the big guy. On to the next
OR
2. The Celtics have been hot for two games and it took a time machine Harden game to win one...something that you can't expect every night. With Biid back as well it returns to the same issue as always...even when he is on...we are trading 2s for 3s. Part of that Harden explosion was the fact that we were matching them 3 for 3. We have to be lock down on defense and we simply don't have the horses for that on the perimeter IMO.
My negative ass of course leans towards number 2. I just don't think our current set up can hang in a gun fight and don't have the armor to defend one either lol. I feel like we have been saying "they won't always shoot that well" all year...and yet they always shoot that well lol.
I think this is donezo.
Kova wrote:It's a shame we took this game as a game to 'get out of the way'.. I hope the team and the staff took some positives.
As I said earlier, don't take any game for granted because it will be incredibly difficult to beat them twice at home. They are perfectly capable of winning on the road.
But let's focus on the next one. We need to come out firing. The building will be electric, we need to jump them from the start.
GoSixersBro wrote:HardenGoat wrote:Barkley made a good point. When Embiid came back in the focus was to get him going. That becomes a mental block for the team but especially Harden. Joel should just let Harden run it the way he did first game with the players and focus on defense until the last quarter where he can put the game away. That’s what you use your stars for anyways. Embiid already has the mvp. Who cares how many points you score in the game. What matters is keeping the flow going and having a smooth moving offense those first 3 quarters.
I tried explaining this to someone I know who has a WIP caller mentality and got mad that I suggested the league MVP shouldn't always be the offensive focal point.
mjkvol wrote:Kova wrote:It's a shame we took this game as a game to 'get out of the way'.. I hope the team and the staff took some positives.
As I said earlier, don't take any game for granted because it will be incredibly difficult to beat them twice at home. They are perfectly capable of winning on the road.
But let's focus on the next one. We need to come out firing. The building will be electric, we need to jump them from the start.
The "get it out of the way" game had to happen given how long Embiid has been out, and better to have it be G2 than G3. It also served to show how BOS would approach us with Embiid back and come up with solutions and a game plan for G3. Boston winning last night was a foregone conclusion with Embiid back, which is why it didn't bother me at all.
The bigger concern in my view is that the team just looks and plays better and freer without Embiid - better pace, a lot of ball movement, more transition points and open looks for guys like Melton and Maxey. The Celtics had a problem with our G1 pace and ball movement, but once we went back to the predictable half court game with Embiid, they found their comfort zone.
I love Embiid, but this isn't the healthy Jo who might take over games the way he did against BOS earlier this season. My fear is that the offense is so entrenched with him as the focus that even a conscious attempt to play freer with him as a defensive anchor, as many have suggested, wouldn't work now, as it has never been part of the scheme here. It's going to take an off-season and next regular season to implement a change of that magnitude.
mjkvol wrote:Kova wrote:It's a shame we took this game as a game to 'get out of the way'.. I hope the team and the staff took some positives.
As I said earlier, don't take any game for granted because it will be incredibly difficult to beat them twice at home. They are perfectly capable of winning on the road.
But let's focus on the next one. We need to come out firing. The building will be electric, we need to jump them from the start.
The "get it out of the way" game had to happen given how long Embiid has been out, and better to have it be G2 than G3. It also served to show how BOS would approach us with Embiid back and come up with solutions and a game plan for G3. Boston winning last night was a foregone conclusion with Embiid back, which is why it didn't bother me at all.
The bigger concern in my view is that the team just looks and plays better and freer without Embiid - better pace, a lot of ball movement, more transition points and open looks for guys like Melton and Maxey. The Celtics had a problem with our G1 pace and ball movement, but once we went back to the predictable half court game with Embiid, they found their comfort zone.
I love Embiid, but this isn't the healthy Jo who might take over games the way he did against BOS earlier this season. My fear is that the offense is so entrenched with him as the focus that even a conscious attempt to play freer with him as a defensive anchor, as many have suggested, wouldn't work now, as it has never been part of the scheme here. It's going to take an off-season and next regular season to implement a change of that magnitude.
kuclas wrote:mjkvol wrote:Kova wrote:It's a shame we took this game as a game to 'get out of the way'.. I hope the team and the staff took some positives.
As I said earlier, don't take any game for granted because it will be incredibly difficult to beat them twice at home. They are perfectly capable of winning on the road.
But let's focus on the next one. We need to come out firing. The building will be electric, we need to jump them from the start.
The "get it out of the way" game had to happen given how long Embiid has been out, and better to have it be G2 than G3. It also served to show how BOS would approach us with Embiid back and come up with solutions and a game plan for G3. Boston winning last night was a foregone conclusion with Embiid back, which is why it didn't bother me at all.
The bigger concern in my view is that the team just looks and plays better and freer without Embiid - better pace, a lot of ball movement, more transition points and open looks for guys like Melton and Maxey. The Celtics had a problem with our G1 pace and ball movement, but once we went back to the predictable half court game with Embiid, they found their comfort zone.
I love Embiid, but this isn't the healthy Jo who might take over games the way he did against BOS earlier this season. My fear is that the offense is so entrenched with him as the focus that even a conscious attempt to play freer with him as a defensive anchor, as many have suggested, wouldn't work now, as it has never been part of the scheme here. It's going to take an off-season and next regular season to implement a change of that magnitude.
Embiid didn’t force anything on offense last night. Sixers just missed shots. Boston made them.
Embiid really was a big statue preventing layups when he was in the paint.
He wasn’t a positive. But wasn’t a negative either. Obviously we need him in mvp form. Attacking. Causing stress on the Celtics defense. But he clearly can’t attack with the knees and. The brace. We just need him to play defense. Get 15-20 points within the offense.
It’s a make or miss league. Boston just made a bunch of 3s. Sixers didn’t.
mjkvol wrote:GoSixersBro wrote:HardenGoat wrote:Barkley made a good point. When Embiid came back in the focus was to get him going. That becomes a mental block for the team but especially Harden. Joel should just let Harden run it the way he did first game with the players and focus on defense until the last quarter where he can put the game away. That’s what you use your stars for anyways. Embiid already has the mvp. Who cares how many points you score in the game. What matters is keeping the flow going and having a smooth moving offense those first 3 quarters.
I tried explaining this to someone I know who has a WIP caller mentality and got mad that I suggested the league MVP shouldn't always be the offensive focal point.
You should know better than to explain common sense sports to someone with that mindset. It's literally taking to a brick wall, much the same as trying to talk politics with people whose exposure is limited to the mainstream media.