Game 2 Final: Celtics 121, Sixers 87 - Brown, bench bury Sixers to even series

Celtics vs. Sixers

Game 2, 8:00 p.m.

TD Garden, TNT

Line: Boston -7.5

Refs: Zach Zarba (#15), Kevin Scott (#24), Rodney Mott (#71)

Injuries: 

Boston- Gallinari (out), Marcus Smart (chest contusion, questionable). Philadelphia- Joel Embiid (knee, doubtful)

Projected Starters

Boston: Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford

Philadelphia: James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, PJ Tucker, Paul Reed

What I’m looking for:

If Embiid plays, then attack him mercilessly: There is some chatter that Embiid is coming back for Game 2, but that might have been some exuberant exultation after winning the MVP. 

It seems a little less likely given some time to calm down. 

If he plays, I’m going at him and testing that knee right away. The Celtics should set screens on his left side, forcing him to get through by pushing off his right leg. If Horford is spacing him out, do it on the left side of the floor and run pick-and-rolls to Embiid’s side to see if he can help, and if he does help, how well can he recover on the kick to Horford? Run the ball at every opportunity and put his already questionable stamina to the test after some time off his leg and not running. 

Be merciless. Make him put that knee to work and see how it holds up. 

If Embiid doesn’t play, then play with more physicality on Harden: Make him feel the defense instead of walking into easy shots and getting into a rhythm. Honestly, the second watch of the “defense” on Harden was even more embarrassing than it seemed at first. 

The Celtics sent weak doubles and the drop coverage against him went way too deep with no pressure from the chasing defender. I get being willing to live with certain things, but the Celtics were outright conceding things. 

Play him tough. Play him with some physicality. Make him at least earn the points a little bit rather than give him warm up-level looks. Living with shots doesn’t mean just setting up a red carpet for him to take them uncontested. 

Limit the other guys: Pretty self explanatory and something we’ve talked about a lot since the end of Game 1. Don’t let the supporting cast get going. Limit them and it won’t matter what Harden does. 

Run the normal offense: For the love of Naismith, please stop milking the clock. If you want to milk something that much, Garelick Farms can probably use some help. When the Celtics have a lead late in the game, do more of what got the lead in the first place. Stop willingly running the clock down to 12 seconds and putting yourself in a bind when the first action doesn’t work. 

How I think it will go:

I’m leaning on the thing we can all agree on with the Celtics: They're terrible with prosperity, and great with adversity. 

Well, this is adversity. They can’t go down 2-0 after flittering away Game 1. They need to focus and execute. This is a situation where I think these guys will respond. Honestly, I can see them winning 2 or 3 games before doing something maddening again.

Give me Boston in this one. 

If you want to pass the time before the game, here’s the latest Locked On Celtics podcast where I discuss adjustments and make a plea to the team about the late game offense: 

Follow along below or in the comments during the game, chime in, and let’s have fun.