R2G3 - 76ers vs Celtics - May 5 7:30pm ET ESPN

[Negrodamus]

Kinda funny that we had the number one pick in both the Tatum and Brown drafts and we opted to go with mentally weak fringe starters instead.

[Jay555]

Btw, we have to figure out whats wrong with Harden and Maxey.

Lets be constructive

Aggressiveness and different mindset.

G1, it’s all on them. They were playing freely. No pressure. More touches / shots to build confidence.

G2/G3, working the big fella back into the rotation. Kept worrying about getting him touches which led to less aggressiveness and less shots and therefore bricks.

In retrospect, we should not have played Embiid in G2. We should have given the crew in G1 another go as they had all the momentum. We were unlikely to win that game but what that would have done to Harden/Maxey’s momentum would have been way different leading up to G3.

Having said that, I can not fault the decision to play Embiid in G2. Because let’s face it, We ain’t winning a damn thing without him anyways. We are the underdog vs Celtics even with Embiid.

My final thought. Celtics’ small ball lineup is so anti center no matter who you are. That’s not a knock on Embiid. It’s just a bad match up. It gives me the vibe of the Houston Rockets 2018 line up that always gave big centers fits. They always had Nuggets number because Joker is just too slow.

We can get a couple of games off them but in a 7 games series, our only hope is for them to suck 4 games at the 3 Pt line which is not realistic.

I dont agree that this Celts is anti-center. Biid has averaged like 36ppg against them in reg season. And putting G2 warm up game aside, he played well against them all year.

Anti-center is like Gobert vs Mavs or Clips. Biid has been an asset against the Celts. Making great impact switching and protecting the rim on defense and punishing them on their man to man heavy offense.

This team was made to beat the Celts style of individual/switch heavy defense by elite ISO scoring of 1.1-1.2ppp. Defensively, we’re getting stops more often if we’re making shots or getting to the line. On deadball situations. That’s the key and that should have been the game plan.

I know the limitation of Maxey. But Harden’s poor play is unacceptable. He averaged 25ppg against them in near 50-40-90 % in reg season, also dropped 45 on them in G1. He has to atleast average 20ppg on good %, not even Houston Harden. But since Harden is struggling, Maxey then can’t be playing like this or else the problem compounds. And thats why the team plays better with Melton this series.

Make shots. Get to the line. Slow down the game. Once the game slow down and the Celts wont be able to drive with pace making it easier for us to defend them.

Biid got 36ppg against them, we were 1-3 vs them tho in the reg season.

Anti center as in their 5 all out strategy has an edge when they play us.

Agreed Harden needs to be more than that. There is no way he went superhuman in G1 and came crushing down to the earth like this in G2 and G3.

It comes down to shot making. They made the shots when it mattered whereas we bricked houses in the last 2 games.

[Mik317]

ideally now that Biid has his MVP we can start looking for dudes capable of being the offense instead of pass first dudes

if he wasn't nuts and we had money I'd look at Kyrie lol....but still looking at the Nuggets/Suns game..Murray and Booker are just pure bucket makers. I love Maxey but he doesn't have a bag and/or our coaching staff is too rigid to find ways to use his speed better but Harden's pass first nature is too close to Ben to be the true Robin we need even if thats moreso due to his diminishing pop.

and no Cam Thomas is not the answer....

but the next step is getting a consistant shot maker and see how that works with Biid.

[Jay555]

ideally now that Biid has his MVP we can start looking for dudes capable of being the offense instead of pass first dudes

if he wasn't nuts and we had money I'd look at Kyrie lol....but still looking at the Nuggets/Suns game..Murray and Booker are just pure bucket makers. I love Maxey but he doesn't have a bag and/or our coaching staff is too rigid to find ways to use his speed better but Harden's pass first nature is too close to Ben to be the true Robin we need even if thats moreso due to his diminishing pop.

and no Cam Thomas is not the answer....

but the next step is getting a consistant shot maker and see how that works with Biid.

Kyrie? lol

[Mik317]

he is a premier shot maker.

but again like I said...he's nuts and unreliable in other ways and out of our price range unless he as NO suitors...in which we'd probably still stay away lol.

but the idea is to get a second option capable of actually taking over rather than said second option being more of a passer. Ideally that would be a wing but those are the holy grail.

[XtremeDunkz]

I'd bring in Kyrie. He's s playoff performer. He can take the whole season off for all I care as long as he shows up in April.

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[Mik317]

I'd bring in Kyrie. He's s playoff performer. He can take the whole season off for all I care as long as he shows up in April.

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unless come playoff time he decides to take a vision quest to find chuthulu

[Jay555]

I'd bring in Kyrie. He's s playoff performer. He can take the whole season off for all I care as long as he shows up in April.

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Thing is he may go haywire in Apr.

[Murray_17]

Knowing their personalities, Kyrie and Embiid would kill each other 1 week into the season

[76ciology]

If the defense is set, Kyrie would also have a hard time scoring. You also should find a scorer who can set-up Embiid at the elbow.

[Jay555]

Kyrie & KD 0-4 vs this Celtics without Brogdon last season.

[VDT]

It is what it is at this point. The loss to the Hawks two years ago was eye opening. Its a soft team with no confidence in themselves (rightfully). They look like a perennial second round exit team, even when they get an easy match up like the Hawks in the second round, they still find a way to lose. And honestly it starts with Embiid. Has he ever really imposed his will in a meaningful playoff series? Having a center as your featured player is already sub optimal in todays NBA, if that player is also not dominant when it matters it's no wonder the team goes nowhere every year. At least teams like the Bucks were able to take advantage of other teams injuries to win the title, despite Giannis limitations. This team has never even be close to that, other than that year with Butler.

[Kova]

I think there were 2 crucial moments in this game where we could have potentially turn it around. First at 72-70 when Harden shot a three for the lead and missed, then they went on the run. Second time later when it was 80-78, they missed a three, got an offensive rebound and then Horford hit the 3 to make it 5pt game again..

Looked like every time we got close, they were able to make a run to extend the lead to 8-10 points and we just couldn't make 2-3 stops in a row and hit some baskets.. On the other end, they were able to do that and always hit timely tough shots that killed us.

Harden, Tobias and Maxey absolutely sucked. There's no excuse for such performances. All in their own ways.

[Kova]

As optimistic as I usually am, I think I'm ready to throw in the towel.. Yeah it's only 2-1 and they still need to win 2 games, but my eye test tells me they're just better and we can't beat them.

Like I said, G1 means nothing and we can't take any games for granted because Celtics are perfectly capable winning on the road.

I think unfortunately they just have the ability to turn it up when they need to, with their offense, defense, hustle, etc.. We just can't. They are just a bit better then us in every aspect, and to beat that team 4 games you always need to bring the 120% of your effort and hustle. Be more physical, more assertive, which we're unable to do..

I don't know if there's anything we're able to do to turn it around, maybe go for a hail mary and throw in Shake or Trez for some shot creation and hustle, but unfortunately I just don't think we have it in us. Tomorrow's game is obviously a win or go home for us.

[Jay555]

The blue print to beat Celtics is a switching defence headed by guards who switch onto their weak link - Holford and relentlessly attack the weak link.

This was evidenced by our G1 and Atlanta’s two wins vs Celtics.

For us to do that, unfortunately we don’t have that personnel configuration on this team.

A team full of quality wings are the ones that match up well against them.

Let me put it this way. We can beat any remaining teams in both conferences but Celtics would always give us fits whenever we face.

We are likely to win G4 but for the series it’s pretty bleak. For us to win, Harden needs to replicate 70-80% of what he did in G1 for 3 times which is not going to happen.

[Bum Adebayo]

The blue print to beat Celtics is a switching defence headed by guards who switch onto their weak link - Holford and relentlessly attack the weak link.

This was evidenced by our G1 and Atlanta’s two wins vs Celtics.

For us to do that, unfortunately we don’t have that personnel configuration on this team.

A team full of quality wings are the ones that match up well against them.

Let me put it this way. We can beat any remaining teams in both conferences but Celtics would always give us fits whenever we face.

We are likely to win G4 but for the series it’s pretty bleak. For us to win, Harden needs to replicate 70-80% of what he did in G1 for 3 times which is not going to happen.

Based on what? I personally think this will be another 1-4 series.

[Zumramania]

I think it's impossible to win a title with Doc Rivers. We were not that far away from the Celtics. I think Doc sucks both in boosting confidence of players in most important games and making adjustments. If we see these things, you can imagine what the players may think. When push comes to shove, Doc is an loser and this is where it all starts.

[ProcessDoctor]

Last night was sad to watch. Harden was mentally in a different world. He just looked dissociated from his body.

[76ciology]

guards needs fast pace.
biid needs slow pace.

[ankle420breaker]

No adjustments will be made for game 4. Last night's loss cost us the series. You could see how locked in the c's were prior to tipoff. Disappointing that we didn't match their preparation or intensity.

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