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

[dukes_wild]

I don't know, has a team ever won a series after being down 1-0? This one might be over.

Not trying to make some crazy hot take by that comment, just saying people are really overreacting. Rozier/Tatum/Horford all had what could end up being their best games of the series, while Philly couldn't play any worse tbh

Philly is not shooting 19% from 3 again this series that's for sure.

That’s very true, we did do a good job of guarding the 3 though. And we abused “Bellynelly” so badly on defense he may not be able to play much this series.

Idk how Belinelli just let Horford spin to his right on the baseline for a free lay-up. Absolutely no resistance on that play, didn't force him to go left like scouting reports tell you to do with Horford, and didn't even move his feet.

[Hipster Doofus]

Great game 1 by the Celtics.

They had a plan, to not allow open three point shots and contest them, and executed it to perfection.

Combine that tough defense with the Sixers not playing basketball in six days, and they missed everything beyond the arc.

Embiid got his, but at the expense of no long-range shooting as he was not double teamed since all Celtics players were covering the perimeter.

Terry Rozier is simply unconscious with his jumpshots and dribbling. Sixers need to find a way to slow him down. If the series goes to 7 games or if the Celtics win, I'm convinced it'll be because of him.

Rozier has shown that he's not just a starting point guard in the league, but a damn good one at that. So what happens when Kyrie returns next year? Does one go? Can they play together?

Now its time to make adjustments, practice for a couple of days, and lets see what happens in game 2 on Thursday night before coming home on the weekend. I expect a more appropriate showing by the Sixers.

[hookshot199]

Joel with 31 but feels like the C’s focused more on stopping Simmons on the break and covering the 3pt shooters.

Which means Joel's 31 points meant nothing. That was the Celtics game plan. Stop Simmons on the break, cover the 3 point shooters, let Embiid do whatever he wants. Victory.

Yep. Except I don't believe your 3-point coverage in the first half was exceptional. They just missed open shots. The second half was different. I also think that Simmons played tentatively. There were times he could have pushed the ball more in transition.

[Froob]

Great game 1 by the Celtics.

They had a plan, to not allow open three point shots and contest them, and executed it to perfection.

Combine that tough defense with the Sixers not playing basketball in six days, and they missed everything beyond the arc.

Embiid got his, but at the expense of no long-range shooting as he was not double teamed since all Celtics players were covering the perimeter.

Terry Rozier is simply unconscious with his jumpshots and dribbling. Sixers need to find a way to slow him down. If the series goes to 7 games or if the Celtics win, I'm convinced it'll be because of him.

Rozier has shown that he's not just a starting point guard in the league, but a damn good one at that. So what happens when Kyrie returns next year? Does one go? Can they play together?

Now its time to make adjustments, practice for a couple of days, and lets see what happens in game 2 on Thursday night before coming home on the weekend. I expect a more appropriate showing by the Sixers.

I think they can for sure. I think Rozier is more ideally not your primary ball handler. He’d better off being a secondary one. Rozier would get traded if they don’t want to pay both him and Smart.

[RiseOfTheEmpire]

I’m still sticking with Philly wins but, there was a huge win for us.

Someone tell me if I’m way over base here, but I thought even going in yesterday that Simmons is Philly’s best player. I think you can win with Embiid having a big game like we did last night (although I felt his numbers were a tad decieving, we defended him well) but, if Simmons goes off and has a big game, Philly is near guaranteed to win. Let’s see if we can continue to make his life hell.

I was on Simmons hype train man, but Stevens just Popoviched this kid like the Spurs used to do to Lebron....make him try to win the game with his weaknesses, and man Simmons has a bunch of them in the half court....useless perimeter player, it's why he's always looking for shooters in half court sets most of the time instead of creating.

I liked it when Shane wrapped him up on one of his lame post ups and he threw Shane's arms off of him like he's some big shot tough guy....I hope they get swept now, **** these brats.

As for why I'm on Steven's balls so hard right now...I thought he was gimmicky when he put Smart on Porzingis and completely locked him up, but he's not....guy pulls some smart ****.

[Celts17Pride]

Joel with 31 but feels like the C’s focused more on stopping Simmons on the break and covering the 3pt shooters.

Which means Joel's 31 points meant nothing. That was the Celtics game plan. Stop Simmons on the break, cover the 3 point shooters, let Embiid do whatever he wants. Victory.

Yep. Except I don't believe your 3-point coverage in the first half was exceptional. They just missed open shots. The second half was different. I also think that Simmons played tentatively. There were times he could have pushed the ball more in transition.

Let’s see what happens in Game 2. Playoffs are all about matchups and adjustments

[Blaze4G]

i don't care what anyone says the Sixers are still a scary opponent, so much so that while i was watching the game i had my laptop open tracking Embiid's foul because i thought his first foul might have been his 2nd. What surprised me in game 1 was;

1. Embiid playing limited minuets in the 1st quarter because i think the Celtics really established the tone of the game after Embiid sat down. The first half of the first quarter felt more like the two teams were feeling each other out but the Celtics really capitalized any time Embiid was out of the game.

2. The Sixers defense seemed way more porous than i was expecting which the Celtics took advantage of by generated a bunch of in rhythm shots. Beyond the defense i feel like their energy, pace, and overall compete was low on both ends. Brett Brown says "his team was out of character" and i think he is right in that assessment and going forward if you want to slow down young players like Rozier and Tatum than running them around multiple screens should impact their rhythm on defense.

Areas that didn't surprise me as much were;

That the Sixers shot poorly, i think i mentioned the same thing in the Heat/Philly series when a poster mentioned that the Sixers wont shoot 20% again well they just did in game 1 and while they might not produce the same exact results i feel the Sixers shooting will vary depending on a few factors, i.e. if the sixers continue to take long contested shots early in the clock then they might not shoot their way to success in this series. Also keep in mind that for a young Sixers team playing in Boston's environment was a first, no disrespect to Miami but the Boston crowd was way more lively which energize the C's and you could see the difference between a flat Philly team and the Home team.

Redick was having trouble defending Tatum. Why he was on Tatum in the first place is mind-boggling. Smart will have a game or two when he makes his threes. But generally he doesn't. Redick has to play Smart and should be inserted in the lineup when Smart's in the lineup. And Simmons or Covington have to play Tatum.

Who would you suggest reddick guard when Jaylen plays?

[Triple M]

Still think Philly wins this series.

I don't know, has a team ever won a series after being down 1-0? This one might be over.

Not trying to make some crazy hot take by that comment, just saying people are really overreacting. Rozier/Tatum/Horford all had what could end up being their best games of the series, while Philly couldn't play any worse tbh

Philly is not shooting 19% from 3 again this series that's for sure.

the last time they shoot 19%, 22%, and 25% from 3 people said it wont happen again i don't think it is likely they shoot exactly 19% again but if Philly remains taking long difficult contested shots then i won't be surprise if we see some shooting woes from them in this series, especially in the games played in Boston.

[hookshot199]

i don't care what anyone says the Sixers are still a scary opponent, so much so that while i was watching the game i had my laptop open tracking Embiid's foul because i thought his first foul might have been his 2nd. What surprised me in game 1 was;

1. Embiid playing limited minuets in the 1st quarter because i think the Celtics really established the tone of the game after Embiid sat down. The first half of the first quarter felt more like the two teams were feeling each other out but the Celtics really capitalized any time Embiid was out of the game.

2. The Sixers defense seemed way more porous than i was expecting which the Celtics took advantage of by generated a bunch of in rhythm shots. Beyond the defense i feel like their energy, pace, and overall compete was low on both ends. Brett Brown says "his team was out of character" and i think he is right in that assessment and going forward if you want to slow down young players like Rozier and Tatum than running them around multiple screens should impact their rhythm on defense.

Areas that didn't surprise me as much were;

That the Sixers shot poorly, i think i mentioned the same thing in the Heat/Philly series when a poster mentioned that the Sixers wont shoot 20% again well they just did in game 1 and while they might not produce the same exact results i feel the Sixers shooting will vary depending on a few factors, i.e. if the sixers continue to take long contested shots early in the clock then they might not shoot their way to success in this series. Also keep in mind that for a young Sixers team playing in Boston's environment was a first, no disrespect to Miami but the Boston crowd was way more lively which energize the C's and you could see the difference between a flat Philly team and the Home team.

Redick was having trouble defending Tatum. Why he was on Tatum in the first place is mind-boggling. Smart will have a game or two when he makes his threes. But generally he doesn't. Redick has to play Smart and should be inserted in the lineup when Smart's in the lineup. And Simmons or Covington have to play Tatum.

Who would you suggest reddick guard when Jaylen plays?

Smart plays nearly 30 minutes per game. I would match his minutes to Smart's.

[hookshot199]

Which means Joel's 31 points meant nothing. That was the Celtics game plan. Stop Simmons on the break, cover the 3 point shooters, let Embiid do whatever he wants. Victory.

Yep. Except I don't believe your 3-point coverage in the first half was exceptional. They just missed open shots. The second half was different. I also think that Simmons played tentatively. There were times he could have pushed the ball more in transition.

Let’s see what happens in Game 2. Playoffs are all about matchups and adjustments

Agreed.

[PierceFan4ever]

Still sticking with the Celtics in 7

Hopefully Brown is back for game 2. Philly will no doubt make adjustments so it’s going to be a better game. The key continues to be how the Celtics defend the 3 point line, Smart, Rozier, Larkin, Tatum, and Morris did a great job guarding the Sixers 3 point shooters. I don’t think Brad Stevens is going to change much, make Embiid beat you on the post but guard the 3 point shooters and sag off Simmons as much as possible. Oh and be ready to run back in transition once a shot is up because the Sixers thrive on fast break quick buckets especially Simmons who racks up a ton of assists that way.

[pac213up]

Great game plan and execution by the Celtics in game one. I expect the 76ers to bounce back a bit but there are some real matchup issues they have to figure out. Not sure if Brown will be ready but if he is....another thing to contend with.

Celtics are content with Embiid putting up 30 and single coverage on Simmons who is not going to carry any sort of scoring burden and cannot shoot. Defending the 3 pt line is obviously the priority for Boston. I think you will see Boston trying to work drive and kicks a bit more and although the D was good, it did not start out that way.

[Drax]

Personally i don't care one bit about the outcome, as a Celtics fan the only thing that interests me is the performances of Brown and Tatum. Take all the shots in the world, youngins, get comfortable with the atmosphere, feel the pressure and get used to it, next season we need you to use that experience in the finals.

[Triple M]

Personally i don't care one bit about the outcome, as a Celtics fan the only thing that interests me is the performances of Brown and Tatum. Take all the shots in the world, youngins, get comfortable with the atmosphere, feel the pressure and get used to it, next season we need you to use that experience in the finals.

i'm in the same boat, i want to see what the young 3 of Rozier, Brown, and Tatum do, so far i love what i see but i want more consistency. Right now all 3 are pretty solid to good but the next level for them is how to leave an imprint on a game. Pace and decision making are so critical in today's league and if they can showcase more consistency in that regard then i'm a lot more hopeful in them reaching their ceilings.

[Duke4life831]

I still think this is going to be a very tight series. I'm going to hold off on making any sweeping declarations until I see the adjustments Brett Brown makes. Redick guarding Tatum was a really dumb decision, if Jaylen is out again I put him on Smart to start the game. But what does he do with Redick if Jaylen is back? He can't guard Rozier/Brown/Tatum. Rozier is way too quick, Brown is too big and athletic and Tatum is too big and skilled.

I think the most glaring difference between this Boston team and the Miami team is Boston has the perimeter players that can burn the likes of Redick/Belinelli/Ersan. Those were the dudes that were killing Miami and Miami didn't have the perimeter talent to make them pay for that on the other end. Miami just had a lot of players like Marcus Smart and Semi. Boston on the other hand has Tatum/Morris and soon Brown again. Plus again Rozier is a terror for them because of his athleticism.

So I really want to wait and see game 2 to see how much game 1 was just rest and what adjustments Philly can make defensively while still keeping their shooters out on the court. Who knows, we might find out next game that Boston is just the worst matchup for Philly too.

[L3GEND4RY]

Redick was having trouble defending Tatum. Why he was on Tatum in the first place is mind-boggling. Smart will have a game or two when he makes his threes. But generally he doesn't. Redick has to play Smart and should be inserted in the lineup when Smart's in the lineup. And Simmons or Covington have to play Tatum.

Who would you suggest reddick guard when Jaylen plays?

Smart plays nearly 30 minutes per game. I would match his minutes to Smart's.

Good luck. His minutes may very well see a decrease once Jaylen is out there again. That or Stevens will just run a little bit of small ball with Tatum at the 4. One of the glaring differences is just how athletic Boston is on the wings especially. If Jaylen is near 100% it's just going to open the other guys up a lot more.

[MisterHibachi]

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[Homerclease]

I still think this is going to be a very tight series. I'm going to hold off on making any sweeping declarations until I see the adjustments Brett Brown makes. Redick guarding Tatum was a really dumb decision, if Jaylen is out again I put him on Smart to start the game. But what does he do with Redick if Jaylen is back? He can't guard Rozier/Brown/Tatum. Rozier is way too quick, Brown is too big and athletic and Tatum is too big and skilled.

I think the most glaring difference between this Boston team and the Miami team is Boston has the perimeter players that can burn the likes of Redick/Belinelli/Ersan. Those were the dudes that were killing Miami and Miami didn't have the perimeter talent to make them pay for that on the other end. Miami just had a lot of players like Marcus Smart and Semi. Boston on the other hand has Tatum/Morris and soon Brown again. Plus again Rozier is a terror for them because of his athleticism.

So I really want to wait and see game 2 to see how much game 1 was just rest and what adjustments Philly can make defensively while still keeping their shooters out on the court. Who knows, we might find out next game that Boston is just the worst matchup for Philly too.

They also have Al Horford too. The Celtics would just run high screen and roll and get one of these guys switched onto Horford and then post them up. Horford would either score easily or kick it to the open shooter. They ran the same set with high screen and roll, pull the ball out, move it to the side and make the entry pass at least 15 times last game. Sixers finally started to double in the second half and got torched from deep.

Horford was a Swiss Army knife last night. He could take his man off the bounce, beat his man on the block or find the open man for wide open looks. They ran virtually everything through him and nearly every time he made the right basketball play. The guy is invaluable to the Celtics with what he’s providing to this team

[akhan786]

If Boston beats Philly, I think this paves the way for Lebron to the Sixers because I think he would hesitate to go to Philly if he faces them in the ECF.

Because if Philly doesn't beat this version of Boston...I think even if they get PG next year that it wouldn't be enough to beat Brad Stevens with Kyrie and Hayward added to this group. To make it a series Philly would have to go get Lebron.

Which would make for some pretty fu*king epic basketball next year in the playoffs.

[akhan786]

Personally i don't care one bit about the outcome, as a Celtics fan the only thing that interests me is the performances of Brown and Tatum. Take all the shots in the world, youngins, get comfortable with the atmosphere, feel the pressure and get used to it, next season we need you to use that experience in the finals.

Leave it to Brad Stevens to make the losses of his best two players turn into the best case scenario in setting up an even better foundation for the next 6-7 years.

These young guns will be tested and ready to go win a championship next year.