Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ 117-101 win over the Sixers in quickie form.
Box Score
HEADLINES
Career nights for everyone: With Jaylen Brown sidelined with a right hamstring injury, the pressure was on the C’s youngsters to take on additional responsibility with another top scorer out of the fold. Terry Rozier (29 points) and Jayson Tatum (28 points) rose to the challenge on that front, both finishing with postseason career-highs for the second-straight game to pace one of the C’s best offensive performances of the playoffs. Al Horford added 26 points against an overwhelmed Sixers defense, that had consistent defensive breakdowns after six days of rest.
Celtics dominate the 3-point shooting battle: The Sixers were one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the league over the past couple months, winning 20 of their last 21 games, but they fell back to earth in Boston. Philadelphia shot a paltry 5-of-26 from downtown, while the Celtics punished the Sixers from all over the arc, going 17-of-36 from 3-point range. That margin proved to account for a large chunk of the final difference, as the C’s kept the Sixers defense scrambling.
TURNING POINT
The Sixers kept within striking distance with runs throughout most of the second half, but the Celtics pushed their lead back up to double digits with a 6-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to push their lead back up to 14. Philadelphia, which gave up 30 or more points in three consecutive quarters, couldn’t get enough stops to cut the deficit below double digits the rest of the way.
TWO UP
Al Horford:
The All-Star has been on an absolute tear this postseason and the Sixers joined a list of teams that seemingly have no one who can contain the big man. Horford punished Joel Embiid with the drives and stretch fours like Dario Saric in the post on his way to a team-high 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field. After going 23-of-27 from the field over the last two games, these last two matchups easily account for the best two-game stretch of his Celtics career.
Terry Rozier:
The starting guard has turned into an elite high-volume 3-point shooter this postseason and it doesn’t look like the Sixers got the memo. Rozier punished Philadelphia all night long from downtown, hitting a postseason career-high seven 3-point field goals on the way to his 29 points. He is now shooting 57 percent from downtown at the TD Garden this postseason.
TWO DOWN
Ben Simmons:
The highly regarded rookie got a tough postseason wake up call against Horford after cruising through the first round. He turned the ball over a game-high seven times on the night and was not aggressive at all looking for his shot, which helped the Celtics score 23 points off of 12 turnovers from the Sixers. Offensively, Simmons also lacked aggression seeking out his shots (just 11 field goal attempts) which helped the C’s stay tight with their defenders.
Sixers 3-point shooting:
Philadelphia rode their outside shooting to a first-round win against the Heat, but it did not appear to make the trip to Boston. Whether it was rust from a long layoff or the C’s strong closeouts, no one on the Sixers roster found any rhythm all night from downtown. Covington, Saric and Ilyasova combined to go 0-of-11 from deep, as the Sixers shot an ugly 19.2 percent from beyond the arc.
TOP PLAY
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Marco Belinelli is going to have a target on his back all series long:
The sharpshooting veteran has been a liability on the defensive end throughout his career and the C’s found him early and often whenever he was on the floor in Game 1. Whether it’s getting him in mismatches or using isolations from Tatum and Marcus Morris against him, the Italian guard provides limited resistance and is one of the few weak individual defenders on the Sixers roster. In order to convince Brett Brown to keep him off the floor, they need to continuously offset his offensive contributions.
The Celtics need to reel in Marcus Smart’s shot selection:
The fourth-year guard put together his usual collection of gritty rebounds and defensive stops, but he needs to be more aware of his shot selection. The Sixers are wisely giving him plenty of open looks from above the break and the point guard is taking the bait, attempting a team-high eight 3-point attempts on the night despite shooting a horrific 25 percent from downtown since his return from a thumb injury. With other pieces of the Celtics’ offense rolling, Smart needs to take a step back and realize that he’s hurting his team by taking those shots.
