NBA Playoffs 2020: Round 1, Game 1 – Celtics vs Sixers – 6:30PM, Mon, 8/17/20

[themoneyteam2]

Any idea on if Embiid’s ankle and wrist are/will be 100% by game 1? If he’s banged up at all that means he’ll resort to shooting jumpers which is a huge win for Boston

[themoneyteam2]

I know the talk is about Theis not being able to play that much but I think offensively he will be huge, just like Horford was vs Embiid in 2018.

Just spam the pick and roll or pick and pop and make Embiid defend in space at the 3 point line. Philly’s defense will be worse without Simmons but their offense will likely be tougher to defend with more shooting on the floor

[Homerclease]

Is there some sort of NBA rule that says you can't play Theis and Williams (or Kanter and Theis or Kanter and Williams) together to counter Philly's size?

That plays against our own strength with the Celtics three wings. Are you benching one of Tatum, Hayward, Brown or Walker to run a double big lineup with lesser personel than your opponent?

[Homerclease]

I know the talk is about Theis not being able to play that much but I think offensively he will be huge, just like Horford was vs Embiid in 2018.

Just spam the pick and roll or pick and pop and make Embiid defend in space at the 3 point line. Philly’s defense will be worse without Simmons but their offense will likely be tougher to defend with more shooting on the floor

Outside of one game it’s essentially been proven that the Theis vs Embiid matchup just doesn’t work for Boston. It’s basically a free two points for Philly on the other end. Theis had one good game against Embiid where Joel couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn but that game is most certainly the outlier here

[themoneyteam2]

I know the talk is about Theis not being able to play that much but I think offensively he will be huge, just like Horford was vs Embiid in 2018.

Just spam the pick and roll or pick and pop and make Embiid defend in space at the 3 point line. Philly’s defense will be worse without Simmons but their offense will likely be tougher to defend with more shooting on the floor

Outside of one game it’s essentially been proven that the Theis vs Embiid matchup just doesn’t work for Boston. It’s basically a free two points for Philly on the other end. Theis had one good game against Embiid where Joel couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn but that game is most certainly the outlier here

Oh yeah defensively it’s tough but I meant offensively I think he can really help by making Embiid defend on the perimeter and to be a pick and pop threat like Horford

[CelticsPride18]

I know the talk is about Theis not being able to play that much but I think offensively he will be huge, just like Horford was vs Embiid in 2018.

Just spam the pick and roll or pick and pop and make Embiid defend in space at the 3 point line. Philly’s defense will be worse without Simmons but their offense will likely be tougher to defend with more shooting on the floor

Outside of one game it’s essentially been proven that the Theis vs Embiid matchup just doesn’t work for Boston. It’s basically a free two points for Philly on the other end. Theis had one good game against Embiid where Joel couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn but that game is most certainly the outlier here

Joel Embiid vs the Celtics this season

15/13 5-14 FG
38/13 12-21
11/5 1-11 FG

So far we have contained in 2/3 matchups if we can do that in the playoffs we can beat them in 5. Also the 1 day rest between games might hurt his stamina in this series since he’s not in great shape.

[Ben-N1ce]

For me it's simple. If they can bait Embiid to more jumpers than down low and get him to guard outside of the paint. Dude still is never in great shape and will wear down if you make him work on D. I can't say I'm not worried at all because by some strange act of god he figures it out..we don't have much answers . They are definitely going to try Al post up's too.

[zoyathedestroya]

Will probably check out the Rockets-Sixers game to see how the undersized HOU defends Embiid inside.

[zoyathedestroya]

Against HOU, B2B turnovers from Horford as soon as Embiid sits leading to 4 quick fastbreak points. Brett calls timeout. We gotta take advantage of those minutes when he's on the bench.

[zoyathedestroya]

19-5 run from Philly to end the 1Q. Puts up 39 points against Rockets' leaky defense.

Philly up big at half, 71-47. If we allow Burks/Neto/Korkmaz to put up 27 pts at the HALF on us, we don't deserve to win this series.

[themoneyteam2]

Philly with 74 pts at half. Shooting lights out with the added spacing. Also note that the Rockets defense is abysmal but still

[BostonCouchGM]

throw everything out the window as far as looking how PHI played us this season. The Sixers w/out Ben is a completely different team. They're a much better team on offense. They might be worse on defense but overall I think they're a better team. It'll come down to shooting. If we're hot from three we'll win. If not, we'll lose.

[zoyathedestroya]

Celtics are 2nd in opponent 3FG% this season, "allowing" only 34.0% from beyond the arc. Normally, I would chalk that up to luck but it's the 7th consecutive year where our three-point defense is near the top of the league (at worst 7th best). So we must be doing something different in terms of scheming. I do worry about leaving the corner three open, which we seem to do more often than we should because we almost always have to send help in the paint due to a lack of true rim protection.

[ajones9219]

throw everything out the window as far as looking how PHI played us this season. The Sixers w/out Ben is a completely different team. They're a much better team on offense. They might be worse on defense but overall I think they're a better team. It'll come down to shooting. If we're hot from three we'll win. If not, we'll lose.

Idk man id say declaring them a better team without Simmons is a huge hot take. Their results on the floor this year hasnt really supported that, nor does it make sense to me. Their spacing does improve but simmons is a killer fast break scorer

[Froob]

I think we’ll need Theis, Kanter and Williams. They’ll all going to get in foul trouble by Embiid. Knowing him, he’s going to be gassed by the fourth.

[Froob]

Embiid not a great stat log for the bubble, not expecting great things from him.

[kuclas]

Embiid not a great stat log for the bubble, not expecting great things from him.

I wouldn’t put much emphasis on stats since embiid played a total of 40 minutes the last 3 games which can drive down averages. 5 min, 13 min, 22 min The last 3 games.

He hasn’t shot the ball well from outside the paint though in the bubble. And he was still holding his right hand last night that’s been banged up. That’s the money ball for the Celtics. Get him gassed and force him him to conserve energy and shoot outside. Down low in the post. He’s gotten pretty much anything he wants playing undersize opponents (turner, poelt, Bryant).

[KGboss]

Embiid will probably try game 1. If we can win this game I believe he gives up.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[exculpatory]

Embiid will probably try game 1. If we can win this game I believe he gives up.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Yup

[zoyathedestroya]

Read on Twitter

While it appears most fans are overconfident about us winning this series, I hope our players are not. What was that term by Pop -- "appropriate fear"? They need to take game 1 as seriously as possible. Our preparation and focus need to be at high, high level to begin the playoffs.