76ers (0-0) at Celtics (0-0) Round 2 Game #1 5/1/23

[ozgod]

Series is over. Heartless and nutless team

I hope they have more heart than you. It’s one game. Smh.

INCORRECT!

this is NOT the first game joe had been terrible at D
this is not the first game we have let dumb O at times and dumb turnovers beat us

we have a huge trend

It’s the first game of the series. It’s not over. Losses suck. You move on. Otherwise he can stop watching.

Most of this board correctly predicted that the C's would play down to their opponent. We have good reason to be frustrated. This goes beyond losing a playoff game.

Actually I think most of the board expected a thrashing, so the result comes as a shock. I get it, anytime we lose a game it hurts and results in a lot of wrist slitting, because it’s cathartic and helps people deal with the loss better 

But it’s a 7 game series, not a win or go home tournament thankfully.  It came down to the wire, we shot 58% overall and 38% from 3, outrebounded them, unfortunately we didn’t take care of the ball, we turned it over 16-6. And we didn’t defend the 3 point line as well as we should have. Still took a James Harden special to beat us. We have as good a chance as they do of winning the series, I wouldn’t be writing them off just yet.

And as much as we hate this team, I’m sure we will all be watching and cheering them on on Wednesday…that’s the great thing about being a fan, there always another game (at least till we get eliminated  )

[Birdman]

Can’t lose at home especially other team best player is out, I alway said, Celtics plays better on the road..

[Neurotic Guy]

Can’t lose at home especially other team best player is out, I alway said, Celtics plays better on the road..

Well if the Cs do play better on the road then they can lose at home.  I do think, for whatever reason, the Cs have shown themselves to be a good road team. I don’t think that’s necessarily a great sign - in that it’s got to be a psychological thing - tightening up in front of the home crowd?   Anyway, they are 2-2 at home and 2-1 on the road so far.  They’ve won 4 playoff games and 2 of their 3 losses came down to the wire.  All is not lost. 

[ozgod]

Can’t lose at home especially other team best player is out, I alway said, Celtics plays better on the road..

Well if the Cs do play better on the road then they can lose at home.  I do think, for whatever reason, the Cs have shown themselves to be a good road team. I don’t think that’s necessarily a great sign - in that it’s got to be a psychological thing - tightening up in front of the home crowd?   Anyway, they are 2-2 at home and 2-1 on the road so far.  They’ve won 4 playoff games and 2 of their 3 losses came down to the wire.  All is not lost.

They lost some key moments in the game and it was enough to lose the game. Because we beat the Sixers 3-1 in the regular season the Sixers probably didn’t get that much respect from Celtics fans, but everyone plays differently in the playoffs. I feel like they match up better against us without Embiid, they can play smaller. Embiid has so much gravity he dominates the ball so much when he plays. But I think the Cs will respond in Game 2. If they don’t then we can start to really get worried 

[scaryjerry]

The most infuriating thing, to me, is that most of us SAW THIS COMING.  Playing down to shorthanded opponents has been a problem all year for this team.  And I have to think that they're aware of it too.  Even so, they've done nothing about it. 

Hard for me to root for them right now.  More frustration than enjoyment.

Agreed. Absolutely would’ve bet my house that they were going to lose last night and it played out almost exactly as I thought. The worrisome part to me is they actually played much better than I thought they were going to. Yes they sucked defensively but I personally think they’ve sucked all year defensively and don’t think that’s gonna change much….and before someone jumps down my throat I don’t care where they finished in defensive rating this season, I’ve watched and there nowhere near the same team last year was defensively

[celticinorlando]

Series is over. Heartless and nutless team

I hope they have more heart than you. It’s one game. Smh.

I have plenty of heart. Been coming back for more since 1981. But sooner or later the team needs to do it’s part. And playing soft and stupid most games usually means it ends up costing them. Can’t let inferior teams win and have life. 

I’ve had 82 plus games to see them make the same mistakes over and over. They let old fat harden cook them last night. So yea a series loss isn’t out of the cards if they don’t fix these reoccurring problems.

[SHAQATTACK]

This is why I dreaded Celtics playing against undermanned opponents they should destroy . It’s now more than an accident. You would think they wouldn’t fall into this lull in playoffs. They are not mentally prepared for some reason. They haven’t learned how to be champions yet.  I wish Pop was our coach ,  this type of team behavior is unacceptable at a pro level.

[ozgod]

The most infuriating thing, to me, is that most of us SAW THIS COMING.  Playing down to shorthanded opponents has been a problem all year for this team.  And I have to think that they're aware of it too.  Even so, they've done nothing about it. 

Hard for me to root for them right now.  More frustration than enjoyment.

Agreed. Absolutely would’ve bet my house that they were going to lose last night and it played out almost exactly as I thought. The worrisome part to me is they actually played much better than I thought they were going to. Yes they sucked defensively but I personally think they’ve sucked all year defensively and don’t think that’s gonna change much….and before someone jumps down my throat I don’t care where they finished in defensive rating this season, I’ve watched and there nowhere near the same team last year was defensively

The biggest issue with this team is mental. They seem to pick and choose when they will play well and when they don't which is what makes it more annoying for fans. It's one thing if you're bad...it's another if you're good but underperforming. And you're right, they did play better than they typically do against an undermanned opponent...except when it came to defending the three point line. Philly are the No1 team in the NBA in 3FG% at 39%. They don't shoot a high volume at 32 3FGA which is 16th in the NBA (the Cs shoot 43 3FGA a game at 37%. They shot more (38) in this game because Embiid wasn't there but we didn't defend the perimeter well and they shot 44%. Like they weren't prepared for Philly to shoot so well...or like Al said, maybe they subconsciously relaxed when they heard Embiid was out.

This is a team that has shown it's very talented but it has periods of lackadaisical play and underachievement, and they haven't shown they have that killer instinct. And Joe definitely needs to take responsiblity for not preparing them well enough mentally. Certainly there was probably a lack of respect for an Embiid-less Philly and it came back to bite them. Time will tell whether those mental traits will cost them a chance at a championship. The silver lining is that it took a Harden special to beat them. They just need to prepare themselves mentally that this Sixers team won't lie down even though they got beat in the regular season 3-1.

[celticinorlando]

They played entitled instead of hungry

[Vermont Green]

I will condition my post that did not see much of the game but I did see most of the 4th quarter.  I don't think the Celtics played bad defense, Harden just went off.  The Celtics played to a 4th quarter lead and then let it slip away.  An execution disaster at the end.  The Smart foul call hurt.  It was a "could have gone either way" play.  That play goes the other way, we win.

I think the Celtics win the series.

[Larry for 3]

They played entitled instead of hungry

So true. And Philly was the hungry team. Like a team that wanted it more. Urgency and execution. 2 things we sorely lack at the moment. We”ll see next game. I don’t think this going to change. Evidence is right in front of our faces. This is not an anomaly.

[letsgoblue86]

This is why I dreaded Celtics playing against undermanned opponents they should destroy . It’s now more than an accident. You would think they wouldn’t fall into this lull in playoffs. They are not mentally prepared for some reason. They haven’t learned how to be champions yet.  I wish Pop was our coach ,  this type of team behavior is unacceptable at a pro level.

This fan base is too arrogant. Why you believe the Celtics should “destroy” the sixers in a playoff game is hilarious to me, despite missing one player.

They’re not going to concede the game bc embiid isn’t playing.

If the roles were reversed and Tatum wasn’t playing last night would anyone assume the Celtics would have been destroyed?

Heck no, half the board would still expect the Celtics to win

[A Future of Stevens]

Our defense wasn't the best, but I truly felt like Philly was making every contested shot. Half of Hardens 3s were contested. He was just unconscious.

[Birdman]

With Milwaukee out, this may be our best shot at winning a championship..we can beat Miami & New York, not worried bout Western conference

[Donoghus]

I see everyone is taking the loss well this morning.