After a shocking loss in Game 1, the Celtics needed to ship a message in Game 2. They wanted to after their worst flaws had been uncovered. Their feelings had lingered for 48 hours. They had been mad. They had been annoyed.
“Angry,” Joe Mazzulla reiterated. “Pissed.”
The Celtics knew they couldn’t afford one other efficiency like that and fall right into a deeper collection gap.
“They came in here and they got one on us on our home court,” Marcus Smart stated, about an hour earlier than tip. “We definitely want to send a message going back to Philly.”
Consider the message despatched.
The Celtics have taken delight all season in being resilient, one which picks itself off the mat after unhealthy losses time after time. Wednesday marked presumably their greatest response but, and as soon as once more provided a robust reminder of why they’re the championship favourite once they’re locked in and wish to be.
And they didn’t even want Jayson Tatum.
The Celtics’ celebrity was restricted to simply seven factors due to foul bother. He solely performed 19 minutes. It didn’t matter. Neither did the highly-anticipated return of Joel Embiid. The Celtics spoiled the MVP’s occasion and eviscerated the 76ers with relentless protection and sizzling taking pictures. Fueled by their feelings, the Celtics let loose their frustrations with a blowout victory at a deafening TD Garden, sending this second-round collection again to Philadelphia even at one sport a bit after a 121-87 demolition.
Game 3 is about for Friday night time in Philadelphia.
“I think we just gotta take more pride in ourselves and that’s it, you know?” Jaylen Brown stated. “Just feel like we underperformed last game and wanted to come out and play to the best of our ability and that’s what we did.”
The Celtics had been in management principally from begin to end. They set the tone on the defensive finish.
Hours earlier than tip, Malcolm Brogdon – who stated promptly after the Game 1 that the Celtics wanted to reply with a message – was requested how that will appear like. He stated it needed to begin on protection. He stated that they had the aptitude of protecting groups below 100 factors, even in at present’s NBA. He needed the Celtics to indicate it.
They did. And then some. And it began actually from the opening tip. When James Harden corralled the ball for the 76ers’ first possession of the sport, Brown was in his grill. Al Horford stated the 76ers didn’t really feel them defensively in Game 1. It was the precise reverse in Game 2, and Brown’s early focus carried over.
“It sets the tone for us,” Grant Williams stated. “He did a phenomenal job tonight. When he brings that intensity and that effort – at the start of the game especially – it just locks us in on a different level, especially on the defensive side of the basketball, which we need. Right from the jump, he set that tone.”
The Celtics’ protection spurred them to their game-ending run. They led by 13 with below 5 minutes to play within the third quarter, and as an alternative of letting off the gasoline like their current unhealthy losses, they shifted into one other gear on each ends. Derrick White hit a 3-pointer, after which they started placing collectively stops. They compelled a shot clock violation. They saved forcing the Sixers into powerful, missed pictures. They had been relentless.
When Malcolm Brogdon hit a 3 to place the Celtics up 21, Brown instantly intercepted a cross from Tyrese Maxey within the backcourt and located White for a transition layup. Timeout, Sixers.
Mazzulla cherished the tempo the Celtics performed at.
“I thought we got stops, and we were able to get out and run, and we got great looks, and we made the right play every single time,” he stated.
The C’s simply saved pouring it on. They hit three extra 3-pointers – together with two from Brogdon – because the lead ballooned to 29 earlier than the tip of the fourth. The 19-3 run clinched the victory and allowed Mazzulla to tug his starters. Payton Pritchard entered the sport to begin the ultimate interval and the remaining was a formality.
Now, the Celtics know they should bottle this efficiency up and convey it to Philadelphia.
“This is one game,” Brogdon stated. “They came out great and played a great game in the first one. James played great. I thought tonight we flipped the script on that, we did a great job on him and a great job overall. But that’s one game. It doesn’t mean anything if there’s no carryover.”
Other takeaways from the win:
– The Celtics’ early effort and depth translated to hustle performs. Smart helped set the tone in that regard. On one play, the purpose guard took on the task of defending Embiid and compelled the large man to lose his stability and the ball. Moments later, after a Sixers missed shot, Smart dove for the free rebound and corralled it.
The Celtics knew they wanted to be a lot better defensively after their Game 1 efficiency, and so they backed up their phrase to begin Game 2. Their effort and depth was the place it wanted to be, and it was exemplified early by one play from Smart that helped set the tone. On one other play, Tatum misplaced the ball however Williams dove on a free ball earlier than discovering Smart for a 3-pointer.
Smart’s hustle nearly bought the most effective of him on one play within the third quarter, when he dove for an additional free ball. But Embiid fell and landed on his shoulder. Smart sprinted to the locker room in clear ache, however he prevented a scare. The Celtics stated he had a shoulder stinger and lip laceration and he returned shortly after.
– After Harden’s 45-point outburst in Game 1, the Celtics had been a lot better on him. Brogdon was a blended bag in opposition to him to begin. On one sequence, he blocked a Harden 3-pointer and deflected it off him out of bounds, however then was whistled for a pair of fouls, together with on a 3-pointer. Harden, although was in the end an entire non-factor, ending 2-for-14 from the sector and 0-for-6 from the 3-point line.
– In Game 1, the Celtics ran a layup line by way of the inside of the 76ers protection with out the presence of Embiid. But his return deterred them from doing so once more. Embiid recorded 5 blocks within the first half because the Celtics solely had 18 factors within the paint. But after taking pictures a season-low 26 3-pointers in Game 1, the Celtics let their taking pictures carry them to a 20-for-51 efficiency from deep.
– Tatum was whistled for 3 fouls – together with two offensive fouls – and solely performed 13 minutes within the first half. He picked up his fourth with 7:34 left within the third quarter. But after subbing out with 5:27 to go within the third, he by no means returned as his teammates blew the sport open.
“It shows our depth,” Williams stated. “It shows that we can win in a multitude of ways, especially when we’re locked in.”
– Derrick White didn’t have an amazing taking pictures begin to the collection, however he nonetheless managed to make an affect in Game 2. The greatest play of the primary half got here within the second quarter when he flew in for an offensive rebound and located Al Horford for a 3-pointer that put the Celtics up 12, which compelled a Sixers timeout. Horford confirmed some emotion after drilling the shot as he let loose an enormous scream.
White lastly bought it going within the second half, as he scored 10 factors on 4-for-5 taking pictures – together with two 3-pointers – within the third quarter to assist the C’s take full management.
Source: www.bostonherald.com