2023 East Semifinals | (2) Boston Celtics VS. (3) Philadelphia 76ers (BOS WINS 4-3)

[Wolfgang630]

Not sure what happened to White. He was the most consistent Celtic player in round 1. He’s non existent in this round.

I think White had been doing an excellent job defending Maxey until Game 5, when Maxey lit him up.

His defense tonight on Maxey is low-key one of the most important things to watch.

That’s good and all, but his offense hasn’t been the same and I guess you can say because he has to work harder on defense.

[LloydFree]

I completely agree with what Tim Legler said on NBA Radio this AM - The crowd in Philly is going to come into play for the Sixers. If they can maintain their cool through the ebbs and flows of the crowd tension, they will be fine. If they get caught up like they have in years past, its going back to BOS.

Scenario I see playing out - Sixers jump out to early 15 point lead, cruise into halftime up 8. Celtics take the lead late in the 3rd. So now its, How do you respond if you are the Sixers with the crowd getting more and more anxious and tense.

Agree and disagree. I agree that if that is the scenario (76ers jump out to a big lead and Boston comes back late) the Philly crowd will absolutely get tight. They always do.
However I disagree that it will determine how the players play. This situation will come down to how Embiid handles the situation, regardless of the crowd. This is the first time Embiid has ever had two chances to close out a 2nd round series and the 1st time they could do it at home in game 6. He won a road game 5 for the 1st time. He got over that hurdle. So maybe he has the will to finish this, regardless of tension in the crowd.

[LloydFree]

Dup

[G_K_F]

This is obviously going to go 7 and will come down to the wire in the end. Celtics blowout tonight.

Why "obviously"?

What is it that tells you that, with the Celtics losing 2 out of 3 on their home court - including Tuesday's night's wire-to-wire, double-digit loss - that the Celtics are going to blow the Sixers out tonight?

Frankly, I think it is going to be a knife-fight in a alleyway. Take the under. Ugly, sloppy, physical.

I don't see a "blowout" on either side. Why are you so convinced of it?

This man was once a Knick fan. It's a little weird to be making these sure-fire predictions.

[LloydFree]

The mental hurdle that the Sixers jumped in this series reminds me of Mike Tyson. At one point, Mike Tyson was the most feared man on the planet. His opponents were defeated before they stepped into the ring. Then Mike Tyson took Buster Douglas lightly, got knocked out and the whole perception that Tyson was invincible was over and Tyson was never the same.

The Sixers have been taking it on the chin by the Celtics for multiple playoff series. Winning game 4 for the Sixers was like Douglas knocking out Tyson. The Celtics are done now because this series is no longer about what the Celtics can do, but what the Sixers are doing. The invincibility is gone from Boston.

I believe the mental hurdle occurred during game 5. But it was as much on the Celtics as the 76ers. The Celtics have had so much success against the 76ers, they couldn't conceive of a possibility they could lose this series until about midway through game 5. You could see the panic in their faces and how they played the 2nd half. Mentally, they know the 76ers can beat them now.

[eyeatoma]

Sixers had their Neo moment in the hallway from the Matrix when he starts to believe. They just need to keep doing that and channel that energy.

[Hussien Fatal]

DPOY level defense from Embiid during these playoffs...

Read on Twitter

When engaged he Is the best defender in the league, no doubt about it.

[Wolfgang630]

DPOY level defense from Embiid during these playoffs...

Read on Twitter

When engaged he Is the best defender in the league, no doubt about it.

He’s not better than AD.

[Bill Bradley]

This is obviously going to go 7 and will come down to the wire in the end. Celtics blowout tonight.

Why "obviously"?

What is it that tells you that, with the Celtics losing 2 out of 3 on their home court - including Tuesday's night's wire-to-wire, double-digit loss - that the Celtics are going to blow the Sixers out tonight?

Frankly, I think it is going to be a knife-fight in a alleyway. Take the under. Ugly, sloppy, physical.

I don't see a "blowout" on either side. Why are you so convinced of it?

This man was once a Knick fan. It's a little weird to be making these sure-fire predictions.

The Celtics blow out teams every other game and **** the bed the following game. Also the league wants it to go seven.

[azcatz11]

Celtics tonight…I really think Brown will go for 40 pts

[ITYSL]

I have faith that the Celtics will take it to 7. Rarely have they lost 3 in a row this season.

I do think the team has showed so much inconsistency since the AS break that their chances of winning this series are very slim. Credit to the Sixers for competing. Absolutely they deserve credit. But the way the Celtics kind of collapsed in Games 1 and 4 was just bad. Not championship ball.

[azcatz11]

I have faith that the Celtics will take it to 7. Rarely have they lost 3 in a row this season.

I do think the team has showed so much inconsistency since the AS break that their chances of winning this series are very slim. Credit to the Sixers for competing. Absolutely they deserve credit. But the way the Celtics kind of collapsed in Games 1 and 4 was just bad. Not championship ball.

Bet the house on the Celtics tonight

[HardenGoat]

At this point it’s going to come down to coaching, next series as well. Doc has a chance to change his narrative. If Ime was still coach I think we would have a vastly different outcome considering Embiid wasn’t even in the first game, nor was he fully healthy the next two. Ime would have had another year to build off that deep run. Mazulla on the other hand stepped right into a Ferrari. But he hasn’t had enough time to get full control of it. That’s really the only difference from last years version other than adding Brogdon. The difference with Sixers is a complete year of playing time including off-season recovery for Harden. They also added depth and defense. These were players that already knew their roles playing with Harden. Melton had experience with Harden for about a year. House and Tucker played multiple seasons together.

[Dirk]

Game 6: Thursday, May 11th at 7:30pm ET on ESPN

[bisme37]

Game 6: Thursday, May 11th at 7:30pm ET on ESPN

Appropriate gif haha. Not trying to be a drag but I wish I felt better ugh. Having a really bad week and it hurts to just keep my eyes open for very long. It would be super cool if this game was not especially stressful but I'm not counting on it lol.

[Arsenal]

The last time we beat Boston in a playoff series I was too young to remember. Kind of like the Red Sox vs. the Yankees in 2004... they've owned us for so long, but it just feels like our time now.

[HardenGoat]

Appropriate gif haha. Not trying to be a drag but I wish I felt better ugh. Having a really bad week and it hurts to just keep my eyes open for very long. It would be super cool if this game was not especially stressful but I'm not counting on it lol.

Sorry to hear that. Migraines?

[bisme37]

Appropriate gif haha. Not trying to be a drag but I wish I felt better ugh. Having a really bad week and it hurts to just keep my eyes open for very long. It would be super cool if this game was not especially stressful but I'm not counting on it lol.

Sorry to hear that. Migraines?

Kinda yeah but not technically. I smashed my head and broke my neck in a car crash a while back and basically I have a brain injury and am extremely prone to multiple types of headaches, among other things. I'd get more into it but it's complicated lol. I've gotten a lot better at managing it over time but this week isn't a good one. My tiny pea brain is overloaded and freaking the hell out haha.

[bisme37]

Lineup change for the Celts tonight. Rob Williams is starting.

[Hipster Doofus]

1 hour to game time.