The Celtics closed out the game with a 10-0 run and that was enough to rally past the 76ers on Friday night to a 102-94. Kemba Walker finished with a team-best 24 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the victory, carrying Boston’s offense for much of the evening with Jayson Tatum (6/19 FG) struggling. Jaylen Brown added 21 points and 7 rebounds while Marcus Smart chipped in with 14 points and 8 rebounds to help push the Celtics to a 3-0 series lead.
It was an ugly night offensively for the Celtics (41 percent shooting) but Boston managed to hold the Sixers to a season-low 29 percent shooting fro the field. Joel Embiid had a game-high 30 points but no one in the Sixers starting five shot over 40 percent from the field.
Boston tries to close out the series with a sweep on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
TWO UP
Kemba Walker: The All-Star had his way with the Sixers early in this one, posting a team-high 8 points and 3 assists in the first quarter, including a highly contested 3. He posted 10 points and 4 assists in the first half over just 15 minutes.
Jaylen Brown: With Gordon Hayward injured and Jayson Tatum in foul trouble, Brad Stevens leaned on the fourth-year swingman in a major way in the first half, playing him 22 out of 24 possible minutes before intermission. Brown responded with a team-high 13 points and 6 rebounds in that stretch, carrying the scoring load with Tatum on the bench.
TWO DOWN
Foul trouble: Eight different Celtics committed fouls in the first quarter and none bigger than Jayson Tatum who committed three in his first eight minutes of action. The heavy fouling enabled the Sixers to get to the free throw line 13 times in the first quarter and stay within two points of Boston despite shooting 25 percent from the field.
Defensive rebounding: This was a potential trouble spot heading into the series and Philly made sure it would be one again after going back to a big starting lineup. Embiid, Horford and Harris combined for 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, which enabled the Sixers to stay close with Boston despite shooting just 32 percent from the field.
TOP PLAY
The steal.
The pass.
THE FINISH ?
doesn't get better than that pic.twitter.com/QV8mDrsCzA
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 21, 2020
WHO: Celtics (2-0) vs. Sixers (0-2)
WHEN: 6:30 EST
WHERE: Orlando
RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub
TV: ESPN, NBC Sports Boston
PG: Kemba Walker
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Daniel Theis
G: Josh Richardson
PF: Matise Thybulle
C: Joel Embiid
- Brad Wanamaker on the success of the Celtics second unit in Game 2: "We just played defense. Obviously, Tatum hit some huge shots for us in that moment but we just came in and just wanted to play defense, try not to give them some easy shots. We felt that we weren't so aggressive to start the game so we just tried to come in and change the tempo."
- Brad Stevens on the team's needed to avoid a letdown with a 2-0 lead: “I think it’s called human nature for a reason. Bottom line is if you want to be special, you’re unique. You’re able to focus on the task at hand. You’re able to understand how hard it is to win. But we were really fortunate to win. That game got blown open, but we made a lot of plays that were fortunate plays just to stay in the game and we were able to make a run off of that. This game is all about being able to stay in the moment, do your job as well as you can. And for us, we have a very specific formula to play for us to be successful, and if we don’t do that, we’re probably in trouble. And we’ve seen that at different times in the last couple of games.”
- Javonte Green is questionable for the Celtics after suffering a sprained knee during the Game 2 win.
- Look for some changes in strategy from the Sixers after the Matisse Thybulle shift to the starting lineup failed to pay off in Game 2. “The obvious answer is to bring 7-foot-2 [Embiid] out of the paint and 7-foot-2 up so there is some level of pressure,” Brett Brown said after Game 2. “The punishment behind it is real. Rollers and scrambles and so on.” Finding a balance between aggressive traps that leave the Sixers vulnerable on the back line and laying back too far with the bigs will be a challenge that Philly may not be able to achieve with their personnel.