Despite Monday’s close win, the big storyline after the Celtics the win in Game 1 was the fourth quarter grade III ankle sprain Gordon Hayward. With Gordon now scheduled for about 4 weeks on the sidelines, Brad Stevens rolled up with Marcus Smart from the tip.
Boston, in Kelly’s trademark green uniform Jayson Tatum on opening possession to create separation in the corner to hit on his first triple while picking up where he left off in Game 1. As in the first game Joel Embiid and Philly attacked the paint and the big man hit his first 3 shots as the 76ers jumped ahead.
Jayson Tatum kept the Philly D honest like him expertly woven through the key to drop a tasty float on the 7 foot stretched out Embolite.
Despite the great early game of TatumBoston restarted slowly in the middle of the first quarter Brad Stevens inserted Ojeleye seeds as first man off the bench, however Ojeleye was quickly benched in favor Grant Williams to counter the length of Philly and Grant forced to strike in his first three-point activity and in the first activities on the boards.
The Boston trademark helps defend and mow the perimeter of the ball in game one was noticeably absent to start this. Philly was hot in the back Embolite who scored 13 points in the first quarter as the team 76ers would shoot an incredible 60 percent from the field, giving up just one turnover.
Consecutive Jaylen Brown is Jayson Tatum the triples somehow made the score respectable at the end of the quarter. The quarter-end rally was led by a 24 ” clock that beat long-rangers from Jayson Tatum as the fourth would end 27-33, Philly up, as Boston would be lucky to be down by just 6.
In the 2nd quarter and enter One’s Edges. Kanter would prove to be a bit of a spark when he hit a rare three-point and then immediately took Embiid to the field where he hit two spots on the low block. Tatum continued the offensive push by scoring a 29-11 as the Celtics has fought for leadership since 76ers behind his 18 points in the first half at 5-6 from three.
Boston has significantly increased the intensity in the second quarter as Philly-Bull Brad Wanamaker and Marcus Smart traded shots with Philly’s backcourt. Brad Stevens In the second quarter he threw the classic Celtics ball with Langford, Wanamaker brought out some good playing traits alongside Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker while Tatum rested.
Also with Tatum on the bench, the Celtics extended the double-digit lead while defensive intensity paid dividends for the Celtics 65-57 at half time.
The Celtics the holders continued to keep the defensive intensity on Philly at the start of the second half. The Marcus Smart injection proved to be ciritca as the OSU product was zipping across the field and closing with multiple efforts. Tobias Harris, Al Horford is Matisse Thybulle contributed only 9 points combined in the first half as Boston tried to punish Philly on every missed basket. Jaylen Brown was the recipient of a wonderful outlet pass Jayson Tatum while Brown was skiing for the rotational jam during the solo escape.
The Celtics continued to push and press the 76ers when the third quarter ended, it was pretty much ball game as Boston scored 98 points against the Sixers 75. Philly could only hope to keep him respectful in the fourth, however a fresh One’s Edges done Embolite work on both ends before Philly eventually raised the white flag by eliminating everyone.
Jayson Tatum would lead the Celtics with a brilliant game hitting 8 of 12 three-pointers up to 33 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Jaylen Brown he was solid as ever with 20 points and Kemba Walker had a great game with 22 points, 4 rebounds and 5-5 from the FT line. The trio was exceptional scoring 75 points between them.
Marcus Smart (10 points, 4 rebs) was a mainstay on D tonight and the effort on the bench was a good plot for Boston. Brad Wanamaker had 7 points + 4 asts, Big man One’s Edges it was great with 10 points, 9 while downsides Grant Williams he played a really good game with 9 points and 6 drops. All three provided excellent support to the starters as Boston dominated for a second win in the series.
Game 3 is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 PM EST.
