ECSF: P2 | (2) Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers (3) | BOS 3-0

[PhilBlackson]

Respect to BOS, they've just been such a tough, gritty team all season.

Stevens being COTY is undeniable. Scary what they could be with a healthy Kyrie, Hayward and if Danny pulls the trigger on another big star. I already said that I believe even without a trade that they'll be better than HOU next year. If they do make one more big move they'll be right there with GSW. PHI has to beat them in a race to acquire Kawhi or it's a wrap. I think BOS with a healthy Kawhi could even possibly take PHI with Bron, what an unreal showdown that would be.

I doubt either will happen. Philly should just draft Bridges at ten and get Fultz back on track over the summer. I hope Leonard stays wth the Spurs and Lebron goes to the Clippers or something.

Idk...apparently Kawhi & Kyrie's fathers are friends so there's already a personal relationship there. If you guys were to package one of Tatum or Brown plus the SAC pick (and if it's JB that goes maybe the MEM) I could see it happening and I don't personally see a better landing spot for LeBron.

With the exception of BOS the East will be fairly easy to get through and Simmons & Embiid help him extend his career by not having to carry the load. Nevermind the HUGE ratings grab that would be! LeBron (Simmons/Embiid) vs Kyrie/Kawhi (Hayward/Brown or Tatum). If he goes to LAL imo he's just wasting his time n if he's thinking HOU if I'm him I'd rather try to go through BOS than GSW to the Finals nvm not sure how HOU even makes a deal for him work.

I don't see Kawhi's "party" being sold on SAS anymore especially after his teammates threw him under the bus publicly.

[Lovethisgamegr]

Also:

Al Horford is an elite talent, Brown, Tatum and Rozier are already great.

Or

Brad Stevens is dragging a bunch of average players to the ECF.

This thread is representing both as true. I'm not sure they can be.

Brad Stevens is a great coach who gets the best out of great ,but too young or with a history of underperforming in the playoffs-Al, talents.
See both can be true.

And if me auntie had bollocks

ok i missed the joke here. Do you think that these players would have played worse under another coach?
Or do you doubt that Horford-Tatum-Brown are talented?

[Jedi32]

Ben Simmons looking like Tragic Johnson with the boneheaded plays circa the 1984 NBA Finals.

More like Larry bird in game 4 of the 85' eastern conference finals.

[jfs1000d]

But Simmons was so much better than Giannis I thought?

That’s not fair. He is a better passer. But Giannis is an incredible scorer.

I would take giannis over Simmons because of that. Giannis is unstoppable.


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Still believe Simmons will end up better when it's all said and done. He's more skilled and has a lot of improving to do as a scorer and I think he will get there. He truly wants to be great. It is his first playoff experience, not worried about his career.

I get that you love assists. But Giannis is a dominant scorer. He has 30 plus ppg scorer. Both all-stars, giannis is in a level of his own as a scorer


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[tundraknight]

Alright I’ve been patiently waiting for this series to start.

According to the famous saying, “A series doesn’t start until the road team wins”.

So I guess this series just now started.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Ben Simmons looking like Tragic Johnson with the boneheaded plays circa the 1984 NBA Finals.

Simmons had impressive game. This loss had nothing to do with him.

He should have pulled it out when he grabbed the offensive board late when they were up by 1. Instead, he bricked a putback. Plus he missed a wide open dunk as well.

[OkcSinceSGA]

This is unprescendented. The more talented team down 0-3 and choked all 3 games away to a very shorthanded team. With Kyrie+Hayward they will win the east anyway, but without? Sixers should be embarrassed.

[oldschooled]

[Stanford]

Yeah it didn't make any sense to me, to me if you already have a great big and PG, then to me it's logical to go for a wing.

At that point, even though Brown and Ben insisted that he'd be a point guard, the consensus was that Ben would play more of a point forward role. The 'Ben at point guard' experiment was definitely not seen as a sure thing. The ideal version of Fultz (which is not the version we got) would have fit with Ben as PF. It was evident in tonight's game especially. The Sixers needed another playmaker. If we got the Fultz BC thought he was getting, he would have helped solved that issue.

[RWGreen]

There's some weird crap going on when C's fans are feeling bad for Raps fans and Raps fans are congratulating C's fans.

[prime1time]

The Simmons' Magic comparisons need to stop. Magic had 10 games in the playoffs of 20 assists. Magic passed the ball like Rondo passes the ball. Eyes always up. As soon as someone gets open he's giving them the ball. Simmons makes flashy passes here and there but his passing ability isn't anywhere close to Magic. Also, in his first year Magic shot 80% from the ft line. Simmons isn't anywhere near that. When Simmons gives up the ball, he just disappears. 76ers need to treat Simmons as a big man who can dribble and pass well instead of a pg.

Also, Embiid may have potential but he isn't anywhere close to being as good as he needs to be. He can't hold a candle to the great centers of the NBA. How do I know that? His coach takes him out in overtime in the most important game of the season. People love to talk about trusting the process. Well the 76ers have a pg who is afraid to shoot the ball and shot 56% from the ft line. A "dominant" big man who doesn't shoot above 50% from the field. And a #1 pick who can't break into the rotation. The Celtics B-squad is better than the 76ers A-squad. Not to mention the fact that they have one of the best cadre of 3-point shooters in the NBA.

We love to talk about how good teams are going to be in the future, well the future is here. Simmons and Embiid need to both improve significantly or else, this 76ers team will be just like all the other slightly above average teams in the east.

*P.S. - It doesn't take playoff experience to not turnover the ball. That's one of the first things you learn when you play basketball. Simmons and Embiid walk around with an air of arrogance like they are destined for greatness. LOL! Someone should remind them how many stars have never won a championship. Hopefully, this series will humble them and drive them to be the best they can be.

Simmons is a rookie who will get A LOT better, especially with wake up calls like these. Embiid hasn't even played 2 seasons of games yet. The future is NOT here, no one expected the Sixers to win at this magnitude now expectations have shifted.

The recency effect will cloud people's perceptions of the potential these two guys have and best believe we will attract free agents.

This team will be contenders from year in and year out, unlike the treadmill wizards. Just wait and see.

We'll see, but I'm skeptical. If you can't beat Boston this year, I have no confidence in you being able to beat Boston for the foreseeable future. Treadmill teams are relative. In the West, because of GS a lot of teams are treadmill teams. With the rise of Boston, many up and coming teams in the East will be treadmill teams. With Boston's deep talent base and amazing coaching, Embiid and Simmons will need to end up being HOF's if you are going to have any chance. And right now both of those guys are flawed.

[Ben-N1ce]

Stevens should be COTY for winning games with black hole Morris on offense

He had a bad game but I wouldn't say he's anything close to a black hole. His RS and PS percentages have been great thus far.

No he's a black hole.. Legit took like 8 bad shots in a row against the Bucks in a game and I mean he really took 8 shots in a row..

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Ben Simmons looking like Tragic Johnson with the boneheaded plays circa the 1984 NBA Finals.

Simmons had impressive game. This loss had nothing to do with him.

Bruh.

You can like Simmons all you want, but to say this loss has nothing to do with him is ridiculous. Dude made a ton of huge mistakes down the stretch.

[Stanford]

Brad Stevens is a great coach who gets the best out of great ,but too young or with a history of underperforming in the playoffs-Al, talents.
See both can be true.

And if me auntie had bollocks

ok i missed the joke here. Do you think that these players would have played worse under another coach?
Or do you doubt that Horford-Tatum-Brown are talented?

I think they're talented AND he's a great coach! They're a great team and the Sixers shouldn't be too ashamed to lose to them. They should be ashamed though.

[knuckles862]

This game is on embiid imo his defense has been terrible all series because of the spacing and he falls for every interior pump fake and he kept bricking everything

[kingofthecourt67]

Literally do not want to see that front runner anymore. Please remove him from this thread

[CobraCommander]

But Simmons was so much better than Giannis I thought?

Simmons is great but Giannis isn't missing a two foot lay in or an open dunk. Actually he prob turns that two foot lay in into a two foot dunk.

Reality is it can happen to any of them...
Problem is it happened to Simmons in the playoffs at the end of the game...
These guys too young to be called chokers...but normally if the team with the better players lose to a team devoid of all stars...we would be looking for someone to offer the heimlick...

Its too soon but...

[PierceFan4ever]

This is unprescendented. The more talented team down 0-3 and choked all 3 games away to a very shorthanded team. With Kyrie+Hayward they will win the east anyway, but without? Sixers should be embarrassed.

Except they’re not the more talented team at all..

[Hugi Mancura]

The Simmons' Magic comparisons need to stop. Magic had 10 games in the playoffs of 20 assists. Magic passed the ball like Rondo passes the ball. Eyes always up. As soon as someone gets open he's giving them the ball. Simmons makes flashy passes here and there but his passing ability isn't anywhere close to Magic. Also, in his first year Magic shot 80% from the ft line. Simmons isn't anywhere near that. When Simmons gives up the ball, he just disappears. 76ers need to treat Simmons as a big man who can dribble and pass well instead of a pg.

Also, Embiid may have potential but he isn't anywhere close to being as good as he needs to be. He can't hold a candle to the great centers of the NBA. How do I know that? His coach takes him out in overtime in the most important game of the season. People love to talk about trusting the process. Well the 76ers have a pg who is afraid to shoot the ball and shot 56% from the ft line. A "dominant" big man who doesn't shoot above 50% from the field. And a #1 pick who can't break into the rotation. The Celtics B-squad is better than the 76ers A-squad. Not to mention the fact that they have one of the best cadre of 3-point shooters in the NBA.

We love to talk about how good teams are going to be in the future, well the future is here. Simmons and Embiid need to both improve significantly or else, this 76ers team will be just like all the other slightly above average teams in the east.

*P.S. - It doesn't take playoff experience to not turnover the ball. That's one of the first things you learn when you play basketball. Simmons and Embiid walk around with an air of arrogance like they are destined for greatness. LOL! Someone should remind them how many stars have never won a championship. Hopefully, this series will humble them and drive them to be the best they can be.

Simmons is a rookie who will get A LOT better, especially with wake up calls like these. Embiid hasn't even played 2 seasons of games yet. The future is NOT here, no one expected the Sixers to win at this magnitude now expectations have shifted.

The recency effect will cloud people's perceptions of the potential these two guys have and best believe we will attract free agents.

This team will be contenders from year in and year out, unlike the treadmill wizards. Just wait and see.

Everyone had Philly in this series in like 5. Their expectations def change when they went out and traded for shooters, they def tried to speed up their timeline .

Sixers played much better vs Miami. They had movement and good shooting, now they have neither. They got those shooter to get in playoffs and they succeeded in that. Every thing after that is a win. They also knew Simmons weakness which is his shooting ability, so by getting shooters they tried to make his life easier and thus helping his development. I liked this team in first round because of their movement, but now they seem like slow old team without veterans. But I don't think nobody expected them to get to the finals in the beginning of season or even middle of the season, but some started to think they might actually make it, not because they were excellent, but because most of eastern teams were awful in first round.

[L3GEND4RY]

This is unprescendented. The more talented team down 0-3 and choked all 3 games away to a very shorthanded team. With Kyrie+Hayward they will win the east anyway, but without? Sixers should be embarrassed.

Except they’re not the more talented team at all..

yah that narrative is getting real old.