76ers advance to second round

[GreenFaith1819]

Congrats to PHI. It will be a great series.

Great to have homecourt advantage, for a change, too - especially in the 2nd round. We haven't had that in a while.

Great Rivalry, here. I remember those 80's games....Dr. J vs Bird....Moses vs Chief.

Loved seeing McHale give Barkley fits.

Hated Andrew Toney, though. That guy was a Certified Celtics Killer. Hope that Thaddeus Young isn't THAT guy to us.

Looking forward to this series.

[LarBrd33]

Let's hope it isn't a great series.  Let's hope we just dominate them 4 games in a row by double digit points.  Our team needs rest... it's the only way I can see us standing any chance of beating Miami in the next round.  

I'm thrilled we got this far, though.  I was mortified Danny did nothing at the deadline either to improve us short-term or long-term.  Just utterly shocked.  I couldn't believe it.  He'd rather rent Ray Allen for a doomed playoff run than acquire assets for the future?  He'd rather ride it out with no legitimate starting center than make a trade for a Chris Kaman type?  Really?  ... Wow.  It completely blew my mind (even more so when it started leaking out what kind of deals we almost pulled the trigger on).

Getting out of the first round kinda proves Ainge right.  So glad Ray has had a chance to contribute a bit.  Garnett moving to center saved this team and Ainge spotted it early.  Now we are favorites to make the ECF and have a long-shot chance of making the Finals.  Ainge let it ride and the gamble has paid off.  Hard to argue with his non-deadline when we're facing Philly in the 2nd round of the playoffs.  Hat's off to the best GM in the league.   I love this team. 

[mgent]

Key matchup is definitely gonna be Avery and Turner.  Another giant that's gonna be tough for him to contain.  I probably sound like a broken record begging for Ray Allen to start, but in this series especially I'd like to save Bradley for Lou Williams who's gonna carve up our bench.

The other key is whether or not Pierce can move well enough laterally to keep Iguodala in front him with that knee.

[Who]

Key matchup is definitely gonna be Avery and Turner.  Another giant that's gonna be tough for him to contain.  I probably sound like a broken record begging for Ray Allen to start, but in this series especially I'd like to save Bradley for Lou Williams who's gonna carve up our bench.

The other key is whether or not Pierce can move well enough laterally to keep Iguodala in front him with that knee.

If it becomes necessary to put more size in at shooting guard, or preferable to bring Bradley off the bench for Lou Williams, I would rather start Mickael Pietrus and keep Ray Allen in that main wing reserve role.

[mgent]

Key matchup is definitely gonna be Avery and Turner.  Another giant that's gonna be tough for him to contain.  I probably sound like a broken record begging for Ray Allen to start, but in this series especially I'd like to save Bradley for Lou Williams who's gonna carve up our bench.

The other key is whether or not Pierce can move well enough laterally to keep Iguodala in front him with that knee.

If it becomes necessary to put more size in at shooting guard, or preferable to bring Bradley off the bench for Lou Williams, I would rather start Mickael Pietrus and keep Ray Allen in that main wing reserve role.

I think that's perfectly acceptable as well, and a better idea match-up wise on Turner and with Ray on Meeks.  But I also think offense is our biggest need, and I believe it's important to get ourselves going to start the game and force the 76ers to fight from behind.  Also Ray has a big tendency to get red hot in playoff games and if that becomes the case he needs to be getting way more shots than he has been.  We don't lose when he's like that because of the space he creates for Rondo and Pierce to get inside, not Dooling and Pietrus.

[Celtics18]

Key matchup is definitely gonna be Avery and Turner.  Another giant that's gonna be tough for him to contain.  I probably sound like a broken record begging for Ray Allen to start, but in this series especially I'd like to save Bradley for Lou Williams who's gonna carve up our bench.

The other key is whether or not Pierce can move well enough laterally to keep Iguodala in front him with that knee.

If it becomes necessary to put more size in at shooting guard, or preferable to bring Bradley off the bench for Lou Williams, I would rather start Mickael Pietrus and keep Ray Allen in that main wing reserve role.

My impression of Turner is that he's a guy who likes putting the ball on the floor and beating people off the dribble.  I don't think he's the spot up shooter or low post player that Joe Johnson is. 

Hopefully, these things will work to Avery's advantage.  He's giving up inches again, but I think he'll have a better series than he did against Atlanta.

[Who]

Key matchup is definitely gonna be Avery and Turner.  Another giant that's gonna be tough for him to contain.  I probably sound like a broken record begging for Ray Allen to start, but in this series especially I'd like to save Bradley for Lou Williams who's gonna carve up our bench.

The other key is whether or not Pierce can move well enough laterally to keep Iguodala in front him with that knee.

If it becomes necessary to put more size in at shooting guard, or preferable to bring Bradley off the bench for Lou Williams, I would rather start Mickael Pietrus and keep Ray Allen in that main wing reserve role.

My impression of Turner is that he's a guy who likes putting the ball on the floor and beating people off the dribble.  I don't think he's the spot up shooter or low post player that Joe Johnson is. 

Hopefully, these things will work to Avery's advantage.  He's giving up inches again, but I think he'll have a better series than he did against Atlanta.

Yeah, I agree (with your description of Turner). I think Bradley will do a good job on Turner.

In another thread, I said that I expected Bradley to force Turner into a lot of contested midrange and long two point jump shots. I think Bradley will be able to frustrate Turner. Make him an ineffective scorer. Wasteful possessions for Philly.