Sixers vs Celtics 3/20 @ 7:00pm EST

[Revived]

Read on Twitter

Al Horford’s wife is BIG mad.

I apologize, this was actually his sister. Not his wife.

[Revived]

On a side note, did anyone know Al Horford’s wife was the 2003 Miss Universe???

Jesus man, the life of a professional athlete...

She’s 6’2 which is nearly the same height as Horford’s teammate Kyrie Irving....

[Tomjas]

The number of hot takes that Simmons is subject of is ridiculous and moreso when the team has had a good win where he played well - nice & controlled for once against the Celtics

Forget this place, here’s some stellar “insight” from the Celtics board

He’s massively overrated

Morris put him in the locker again

Also Celtics board

Morris should be on the bench

Morris should have been traded

[Kolkmania]

I never understand when someone judges the officiating based on a FT disparity. Getting to the line is our most effective way to score and the Celtics never do it, so obviously there's going to be a disparity.
It's like saying, "Irving hit a ridiculous amount of tough shots around the rim! They were lucky!", but that's who he is...

Embiid was a monster, offensively and defensively. Thought that the 4th quarter offense was great, everybody knew his role and we patiently attacked the mismatch.

Now that we've basically secured the 3rd seed, it's time to focus on fatigue and get our guys ready to play in the PO.

[Wilfried]

Simmons had 13, 8, 7, 3, 2 tho, with only 2 turnovers. Idk mna.

Most important was he hit his free throw in the final minute.
That was the biggest.

I feel he had a very good game

[76ciology]

You guys watched how both teams exchanged their goodbyes after the game right?

I could be over reacting but both teams acted like its their last game to face one another and were showing their appreciation.

[Wilfried]

I don't know about you guys, but I feel like there's a monkey off my back

[notericjr]

I don't know about you guys, but I feel like there's a monkey off my back

i with you on that.

also funny hearing boston fans complaining about the FT's, maybe try not fouling embiid so much?

monster game from jojo and epic take over by jimmy in the 4th. heck even ben continued his good FT form deep in the 4th.

very happy

[ConstableChaos]

Butler worth the max?

I'd be taking Harris over JB (if both are deemed max worthy), but gee JB give the sixers a look no one else can give em

[Kova]

That was much needed win. We needed to man up if we wanted it. It all starts with Joel. Man I love this dude so much.

I think we can beat the Celtics in best of 7, but we need that home court, and we need to get physical on them as much as they are with us.
Our defense is the key. We can't take 69 points in a half, that's just too much.

But what a win! This will do wonders for us psychologically. Go Sixers!

[Wilfried]

That was much needed win. We needed to man up if we wanted it. It all starts with Joel. Man I love this dude so much.

I think we can beat the Celtics in best of 7, but we need that home court, and we need to get physical on them as much as they are with us.
Our defense is the key. We can't take 69 points in a half, that's just too much.

But what a win! This will do wonders for us psychologically. Go Sixers!

We got the home court against them, no worries.

Let's start rooting now for the Raptors to take over the Bucks. It's still pretty possible and would be much better for us.
Let Toronto and Boston take on each other. I feel the Bucks are a much easier road to the ECF.

[hookshot199]

Read on Twitter

Al Horford’s wife is BIG mad.

She's not completely wrong. Had it not been for Smart's stupid play and temper tantrum, we
would have lost three of four quarters. At home.

The idea that Hayward would have made a difference is bullish*t. Nevertheless, Baynes plays
well against Embiid.

Our fourth quarter notwithstanding, we don't match up well against Kyrie and Scary Terry.
This is a structural problem that will have to be addressed in the offseason - having a lockdown
defender to play super-quick point guards. Of the teams we're likely to play in the playoffs,
Kyle Lowry is the only one I think could give us serious trouble. And I don't think he's the player
he was two or three years ago.

Fortunately, we won't be playing the Celtics in the playoffs unless both of us make it to the
Eastern finals in which case I would not bet on us.

It was important for us to win the game to establish an identity, a swagger, a sense of being
able to dig deep and pull a win.

I'm not sure we established an identity, at least an identity I like. I believe more firmly now
than ever that JJ should come off the bench and be instant offense, be the leader of the second
unit. I like the way we play with Ennis on the court. We don't all stand around waiting for JJ
to run somebody off a pick…and live or die on whether he's making his shots. And we play better
D when Ennis is on the court.

As for being a must win game, Horford's sister is wrong. It was a good win, but we probably won't
be playing Boston in the playoffs and, frankly, a four-five seeding against Indiana is not appreciably
different than a three-seven seeding against Brooklyn or Detroit.

More interesting to me right now is the possible shakeup at the top of the division. With Mirotic
out indefinitely and Brogdan effectively out for the season, it is possible for Toronto to make up
the three-game differential with 10 to play (two games in the win-loss column plus the tiebreaker)
to win home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Even when they''re healthy, we match up better against Milwaukee in my opinion.

Anyway, good win, great fourth quarter, but not a particularly good game in my opinion.

[VDT]

The number of hot takes that Simmons is subject of is ridiculous and moreso when the team has had a good win where he played well - nice & controlled for once against the Celtics

Forget this place, here’s some stellar “insight” from the Celtics board

He’s massively overrated

Morris put him in the locker again

Also Celtics board

Morris should be on the bench

Morris should have been traded

Celtics fans are of course biased but they are equally biased against all Sixers players. If they single out Simmons its because they do think he is overrated at least compared to the other Sixers players.

Sixers have a big problem creating quality shots in the half court, something that Celtics do with just a pnr and forcing a bad matchup. This is the reason that the games against them feel such an uphill battle.

There are only so many ways to create good shots against a good defense in this game and they generally involve creating a favorable matchup. You either do it with a pnr where you force a switch or you have a player that is so dominant that he is a mismatch by himself and who attracts double teams and then passes to the open player for a quality shot. Th e Celtics were constantly doing pnr to get the match up they wanted.

Simmons, as a ball handler, has no ability to do the pnr and since he is a non shooter it is easy to for his man to double other players. As such there are really no ways left for the SIxers to create good shots. Which is why Brown wants them to play at a high pace so that the defense is not set or why they are running all these DHOs for Reddick that people dont like. For Simmons to justify being the main ball handler he needs to be dominant by himself, if he is deferential and remains an opportunistic scorer the team will have a big problem against good defensive teams. If on the other hand the Sixers find someone else to be the main ball hannder like they did in the 4th quarter then Simmons is just an athletic forward that cant shoot and he is phased out of the offense as we saw in this game or against the Bucks while still providing negative spacing.

[Wilfried]

If Celtics fans go after Simmons because they feel he's overrated (I can understand them tbh), they should also have the guts to look into the mirror and face the image of Jayson Tatum (although still a very nice player)

[kuclas]

Celtics fans really didn’t go after Simmons on their message board once the game got started. Seems more anger towards embiid. But I think it’s also a sign of respect. Most knowledgeable Celtics fan know what a talent embiid is already. They were all waiting for embiid to be gasping for air. And embiid was gasping for air where brett brown had to take him out for a quick 60 second break around the 5 min mark of the 4th quarter. But embiid was already gasping for air after his 3rd quarter stint in reality.

I just discard most of the chest thumping posts. The knowledgeable Celtics fans know Al Horford had defensive lapses. And it was due to him playing too many minutes especially on a bum knee especially with Baynes out with the ankle sprain.

In today’s nba with the pace of the game. U need. Backup quality center who can give the starter 15 minutes. Hopefully boban can give embiid a solid 15 minutes in playoffs as well. Embiid plays best at 30-32 minutes. We all know that. 41 minutes is a way too much. I’m glad he’s learning and only settled for a couple of 3 pointers when he’s fatigue. He’s got better options (Butler) down the stretch to help out now. I was laughing at the end. Embiid at the 3 point line calling out for the ball with 10 seconds left and butler ignoring embiid and taking the game clinching shot to get them the 4 point lead.

[Kova]

If we can get Patrick Beverly this offseason it would solve a lot of defensive issues on perimeter. He'd know how to fight against Irving, Smart and Rozier.

[Sixerscan]

Celtics fans really didn’t go after Simmons on their message board once the game got started. Seems more anger towards embiid. But I think it’s also a sign of respect. Most knowledgeable Celtics fan know what a talent embiid is already. They were all waiting for embiid to be gasping for air. And embiid was gasping for air where brett brown had to take him out for a quick 60 second break around the 5 min mark of the 4th quarter. But embiid was already gasping for air after his 3rd quarter stint in reality.

I just discard most of the chest thumping posts. The knowledgeable Celtics fans know Al Horford had defensive lapses. And it was due to him playing too many minutes especially on a bum knee especially with Baynes out with the ankle sprain.

In today’s nba with the pace of the game. U need. Backup quality center who can give the starter 15 minutes. Hopefully boban can give embiid a solid 15 minutes in playoffs as well. Embiid plays best at 30-32 minutes. We all know that. 41 minutes is a way too much. I’m glad he’s learning and only settled for a couple of 3 pointers when he’s fatigue. He’s got better options (Butler) down the stretch to help out now. I was laughing at the end. Embiid at the 3 point line calling out for the ball with 10 seconds left and butler ignoring embiid and taking the game clinching shot to get them the 4 point lead.

Embiid calling for the ball forces Horford to guard him out at the 3 point line which allowed Butler more room to operate. Just like the Bucks game.

[Bum Adebayo]

If Celtics fans go after Simmons because they feel he's overrated (I can understand them tbh), they should also have the guts to look into the mirror and face the image of Jayson Tatum (although still a very nice player)

Anyone that feels Simmons is overrated has no idea about basketball or simply doesn't watch games, there is just no way you can come to the conclusion he is overrated if you watch him play.

[FlyingArrow]

Anyone that feels Simmons is overrated has no idea about basketball or simply doesn't watch games, there is just no way you can come to the conclusion he is overrated if you watch him play.

We all appreciate your clearly objective analysis.

[Wilfried]

If Celtics fans go after Simmons because they feel he's overrated (I can understand them tbh), they should also have the guts to look into the mirror and face the image of Jayson Tatum (although still a very nice player)

Anyone that feels Simmons is overrated has no idea about basketball or simply doesn't watch games, there is just no way you can come to the conclusion he is overrated if you watch him play.

I think there's a difference between overhyped and overrated. I feel Simmons is overhyped by us, just like Tatum is by Boston fans.

Overrated, more difficult to say. Simmons is an Allstar. He deserves that.