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

[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.

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

Oh ya 100%. You can see the ball movement and offense really begin to stall when Horford is off the court. Him and Tatum both move the ball around very well. When those two come off Rozier, Smart and Morris can get a little iso happy. Tatum is always a drive and kick threat, while Horford just always keeps that ball moving around. And like you said he can also then set some screens, get a smaller guy on him then just abuse him on the post with either scoring or hitting the open man. This isn't even mentioning the effect he has on the defense as well. He was without a doubt the most important guy for the Celtics last night and they need Horford to play with that same aggressiveness all series long.

[hookshot199]

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.

He becomes the sixth man and comes off the bench when Smart plays. Smart averaged 30 mpg in the regular season and nearly the same in the playoffs so far. It means that Redick would be in during crunch time.

Philly puts Covington on Rozier, Simmons on Tatum or Brown, then some mix of Saric, Ilyasova and/or Justin Anderson on Horford (Saric or Ilyasova) and Tatum or Brown (whoever Simmons isn't guarding), and Embiid on Baynes, daring him to continue being a 3-point shooter. Anderson is Smart "Light". He'll play belly-to-belly on Tatum or Brown.

[KyRo23]

I didn't get an answer in the last game thread so here it goes again. I only watched the 4th, but it seemed like Philly was doubling EVERYTHING and left shooters wide open. It basically sparked that last run by Boston. Were they doing that the whole game? What's the deal with that?

[NoDopeOnSundays]

I didn't get an answer in the last game thread so here it goes again. I only watched the 4th, but it seemed like Philly was doubling EVERYTHING and left shooters wide open. It basically sparked that last run by Boston. Were they doing that the whole game? What's the deal with that?

They got caught up in switching and the Celtics went after every mismatch when they did. I think they'll cut down on the switching next game.

[Homerclease]

I didn't get an answer in the last game thread so here it goes again. I only watched the 4th, but it seemed like Philly was doubling EVERYTHING and left shooters wide open. It basically sparked that last run by Boston. Were they doing that the whole game? What's the deal with that?

They weren’t doubling in the first half and Al Horford was destroying them. They started doubling in the second half and that’s when the Celtics really started bombing 3’s.

[KyRo23]

I didn't get an answer in the last game thread so here it goes again. I only watched the 4th, but it seemed like Philly was doubling EVERYTHING and left shooters wide open. It basically sparked that last run by Boston. Were they doing that the whole game? What's the deal with that?

They weren’t doubling in the first half and Al Horford was destroying them. They started doubling in the second half and that’s when the Celtics really started bombing 3’s.

Hmmmmm I don't know, I'd definitely live with letting Horford go 1 on 1 and seeing if he could beat me. That 4th quarter was just abysmal.

[Hipster Doofus]

The Sixers need to be more disciplined in defense the next game. No need to switch as often as they did last night.

[kuclas]

If Rozier can go 7 for 9 from 3 point line...so be it. If Baynes hits 2 shots from the corner so be it. A team that makes 16 three pointers on nearly 50% should be winning the games 90% of the time. Just hope the Celtics come down a bit, sixers increase the intensity and try to pull one out in Boston Thursday and come back home tied 1-1. Celtics rozier didn't play well on the road against Milwaukee.

[Homerclease]

I didn't get an answer in the last game thread so here it goes again. I only watched the 4th, but it seemed like Philly was doubling EVERYTHING and left shooters wide open. It basically sparked that last run by Boston. Were they doing that the whole game? What's the deal with that?

They weren’t doubling in the first half and Al Horford was destroying them. They started doubling in the second half and that’s when the Celtics really started bombing 3’s.

Hmmmmm I don't know, I'd definitely live with letting Horford go 1 on 1 and seeing if he could beat me. That 4th quarter was just abysmal.

I agree, they had to try something though as they were down 10 at the half and needed to make some kind of change. Horford was just too effective though. They didn’t have an answer for him all night

[KyRo23]

They weren’t doubling in the first half and Al Horford was destroying them. They started doubling in the second half and that’s when the Celtics really started bombing 3’s.

Hmmmmm I don't know, I'd definitely live with letting Horford go 1 on 1 and seeing if he could beat me. That 4th quarter was just abysmal.

I agree, they had to try something though as they were down 10 at the half and needed to make some kind of change. Horford was just too effective though. They didn’t have an answer for him all night

Who was guarding him? Embiid?

[Homerclease]

Hmmmmm I don't know, I'd definitely live with letting Horford go 1 on 1 and seeing if he could beat me. That 4th quarter was just abysmal.

I agree, they had to try something though as they were down 10 at the half and needed to make some kind of change. Horford was just too effective though. They didn’t have an answer for him all night

Who was guarding him? Embiid?

They would use him in the PnR to get the matchup they wanted. They would pick on a weaker defender and make them cover Al on the block. Lots of Tatum/Horford and Rozier/Horford pick and roll all night. Embiid was on him a select few times but he isn’t fast enough to stick with Al on the perimeter

[L3GEND4RY]

I agree, they had to try something though as they were down 10 at the half and needed to make some kind of change. Horford was just too effective though. They didn’t have an answer for him all night

Who was guarding him? Embiid?

They would use him in the PnR to get the matchup they wanted. They would pick on a weaker defender and make them cover Al on the block. Lots of Tatum/Horford and Rozier/Horford pick and roll all night. Embiid was on him a select few times but he isn’t fast enough to stick with Al on the perimeter

Pretty much. That or they’d try to get a mismatch with Saric on him. Expect this to continue for the most part. Embiid just isn’t mobile enough on the perimeter.

[Homerclease]

Who was guarding him? Embiid?

They would use him in the PnR to get the matchup they wanted. They would pick on a weaker defender and make them cover Al on the block. Lots of Tatum/Horford and Rozier/Horford pick and roll all night. Embiid was on him a select few times but he isn’t fast enough to stick with Al on the perimeter

Pretty much. That or they’d try to get a mismatch with Saric on him. Expect this to continue for the most part. Embiid just isn’t mobile enough on the perimeter.

I thought Amir did the best job out of anyone Philly had but if Embiid is out of the game then the Celtics just went small and would expose Amir on the perimeter too. Brads gameplan was absolutely top notch

[Bar Fight]

The Celtics are really up 2-0 if you include Ainge fleecing Colangelo this past offseason

[TheNewEra]

Bret Brown media interview was not encouraging at all. He seemed cocky about everything happening and didn’t even deny the JJ on Tatum game plan. Talked about sticking with TJ for now but only played the guy five minutes. Worse of all he said he was going to encourage his team to shoot even more threes than before!!!

Only two of the five games against Miami did the 76ers shoot the ball well everything else was under 30%. What kind of coach encourages more shots taken before you can stabilize easy buckets first? This may be one of those times a guy gets out coached. Miami couldn’t make the 76ers pay for poor shooting because they had poor shooting.

[jfs1000d]

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?

The issue is they don't want Simmons chasing Tatum around. And, the crossmatch issues will make finding Tatum in transition impossible.

[Pumpkin17]

The Celtics are really up 2-0 if you include Ainge fleecing Colangelo this past offseason

It is actually incredible to think that with tatum and fultz switched this is probably a sweep in favour of Phila. Obviously no one could have predicted fultz troubles and the guy can very well become a superstar still. Problem is, if you already know Simmons is going to be your starting PG, why do you go for another PG and not for a forward?

[SmartWentCrazy]

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.

I think this is 100% spot on— the other huge benefit of letting Embiid get his on offense is that it drains him on defense. I dont think its a coincidence that Embiid looked gassed at the end of the game and struggled to rotate defensively—this was likely part of the plan.

[hookshot199]

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?

The issue is they don't want Simmons chasing Tatum around. And, the crossmatch issues will make finding Tatum in transition impossible.

To your first comment, you don't know that. To the second issue, crossmatch, maybe. But it seems counterintuitive that an athletic 6'10" guy can't guard a slightly less athletic 6'8" guy but can guard an athletic and quick 6'2" guy.

[kuclas]

Game plan for sixers is simple.

Just feed embiid the ball. Get fouls. Force Stevens hand whether to use Montoe or put Al Horford on embiid full time. Stevens is managing Al’s energy on the defense end.

Embiid had his way against baynes most of the night. Anyone who saw the game knows it.

Issue is embiid can’t sustain that intensity himself. Something has to give. And his overall defense suffered. Celtics were 7 for 8 within 6 feet without embiid on the floor. They were still 7 for 16 with embiid on the floor within 6 feet. Which is still a big difference. But embiid usually limits opponents even more inside the paint.

So get baynes out. Go to work on Monroe who is even less mobile than Baynes.

Stevens even said it. He’ll take his chances with embiid scoring 31 points. But if embiid is getting more or creating more. Than that becomes a big problem for Celtics.