A mix of news and notes after the Celtics and 76ers finished up their final day of preparations before their playoff opener tomorrow evening.
Romeo Langford will try to give it a go despite wrist injury
The Celtics rookie was listed as questionable for Game 1 against the 76ers on Monday night despite being diagnosed with torn ligaments in his right (shooting) hand.
“Romeo practiced," Brad Stevens said. "Said he felt better today and yesterday which is good.”
Stevens had indicated earlier this weekend that it was not clear yet whether Langford would be available for the postseason, but the questionable tag on his availability is a strong indication that he will not be undergoing season-ending surgery to repair the ligaments ahead of the postseason. The main issue for the swingman will be pain tolerance as he tries to play through the injury, but it's evident the training and coaching staff have seen him do enough where they believe he can still be of help for the postseason run.
I'd expect Brad Stevens to stay away from him early in the series to give the wrist more time to heal from the initial injury, but look for Langford to remain on the active roster at some point this postseason when he's fully cleared to play.
The Sixers will also be down an additional wing on top of All-Star Ben Simmons, as midseason addition Glenn Robinson III has been ruled out by the team for the next 7-10 days with a hip pointer. Robinson had played sparingly in the seeding games (just two appearances) after suffering the initial injury during a scrimmage against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Robinson's absence potentially looms large from a defensive standpoint, as he was one of the few players off Philadelphia's bench with the size and speed to match up against wings like Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown for spot minutes. Without him, the Sixers will need to be more reliant on their offensive-minded wings like Furkan Korkmaz and Alec Burks to go with defensive-stopper Matisse Thybulle off the bench. That could produce plenty of mismatches for Boston on the offensive end when Josh Richardson rests.
Could Sixers start Thybulle?
The Sixers will be facing some kind of mismatch when defending the Celtics starting five without Simmons in the fold. Whether it’s Shake Milton (a subpar defender) trying to contain an All-Star in Kemba Walker or a true big like Al Horford attempting to stick with one of Boston’s wings on the perimeter, defense is looking like the biggest challenge for Philadelphia heading into the series.
One way to combat one of those mismatches would be inserting one of Philadelphia’s best defenders into the starting five in Matisse Thybulle. That’s an option that the Sixers coaching staff is looking into ahead of Game 1, according to Brett Brown.
"We're talking a lot about doing different things,” Brown said Sunday afternoon. "It is being considered. Obviously I'm not going to tell you that. We're talking about a lot of things but I think to your original point, Matisse will have a significant role defensively in this series."
While Thybulle will undoubtedly spend a lot of time in this series on the likes of Brown and Tatum thanks to his length and athleticism, he will be a significant downgrade for the Sixers starting five if he is inserted. Whether he replaces Milton (elite 3-point shooter) or Horford (one of Philly’s best passers) moving Thybulle into the starting five could lead to other issues for the Sixers, including a lack of continuity among their starting group. However, without Simmons and Robinson available, the Sixers are clearly worried about having the right guys on the floor to match up with Boston’s firepower (4th ranked offense in the NBA).
"What it means is you've got to go down to other obvious players," Brown said Sunday of being shorthanded on the wings. "You're not just going to you have J-Rich and Matisse play 48 minutes, and so it bleeds into a lot of other things that are the reason you have a team and the group effort, the understanding of some sort of like knowledge of personnel tendencies, the schematic end of a game plan, it's got to be precise."
"You don't have the luxury and/or wiggle room of a misstep, of a mistake, a lack of a proper read. And so I see it that simply, it's difficult."
Making a move this drastic ahead of the start of the series would be a bit of a shock, but you can bet it’s something that Brown will turn to quickly if things are ugly defensively for the Sixers starting five. Either way, expect lots of Thybulle in this series as Philadelphia’s best chance at slowing down Boston’s wings.