Suck it up and tip your hat to the 76ers. We'll get them next game.

[Roy H.]

I don't think we should expect blowouts in this series.  Philly had the 3rd best defense in the NBA this year, behind Chicago and Boston.  They're going to make things tough for us.

[csfansince60s]

I don't think we should expect blowouts in this series.  Philly had the 3rd best defense in the NBA this year, behind Chicago and Boston.  They're going to make things tough for us.

I agree with this.

The irony is that we are getting beat at our own game. The refs are, for the most part, letting them play, and usually that plays into our hands.

However, given our injuries and age and consequent lack of resiliency, and given the youth and athleticism of the 6'ers, we may not win this game (series).

I really didn't see this coming. I thought that we would win in 5 fairly easily, especially given how we closed the season and how they fell to 8th.

[Fafnir]

If Pierce was healthy I think we'd win handily but this looks like a 6 or 7 game series either way at this point.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

When a team scores only 82 points, as the Sixers did tonight, you shouldn't have to get stops late--you should be beating them by at least 10 points. They could've beat the Hawks in 5, possibly 4, and gotten some good rest, and they could've beat the Sixers in 4 and gotten some good rest. These guys just love to make things harder for themselves, and unfortunately it'll probably always be this way with this core.

As if how many games a series will take it is up to them...

We could easily say that the Celtics were lucky to win in 6 and avoid game 7. Good thing they made sure they didn't have to go back to Atlanta. We could say that Philly would be up 2-0 if not for the grit and determination of the Celtics that brought them back in game 1.

Have we developed an obnoxious sense of entitlement since 2008?

I wouldn't say entitled; spoiled, perhaps, but my point was that I know how good this team is capable of being, even with some injuries, and it's so frustrating to see them nearly always play down to lesser opponents. Philly's got some talent, but barely made the playoffs, lacks a dominant scorer and a strong post presence, and didn't exactly play inspired ball for most of last night's game (36 points in the first HALF). And it was on Boston's court with supportive fans cheering them on. These guys just tend to not have their heads in the game unless they're standing on the edge of the proverbial cliff, and that's what bothers me.

[Celtics18]

I know the inexperienced Sixers faltered down the stretch of the regular season, but they are still the same team that got off to a great start. 

They are young and athletic and have a lot of weapons, even if no superstars.  They play good D, and they have a coach that knows how to inspire passion in his players. 

I think the Celtics will emerge victorious from this series, but I don't know why anyone expected anything less than a strong fight from these hungry, young Sixers.

[BballTim]

I don't think we should expect blowouts in this series.  Philly had the 3rd best defense in the NBA this year, behind Chicago and Boston.  They're going to make things tough for us.

  I'd say last night was more bad offense than good defense from them. I thought that Philly was struggling to get good shots and the Celts were struggling to make good shots.

[CelticG1]

I don't think we should expect blowouts in this series.  Philly had the 3rd best defense in the NBA this year, behind Chicago and Boston.  They're going to make things tough for us.

  I'd say last night was more bad offense than good defense from them. I thought that Philly was struggling to get good shots and the Celts were struggling to make good shots.

Oh you mean like 8 wide open shots from bass?

[Celtics18]

I don't think we should expect blowouts in this series.  Philly had the 3rd best defense in the NBA this year, behind Chicago and Boston.  They're going to make things tough for us.

  I'd say last night was more bad offense than good defense from them. I thought that Philly was struggling to get good shots and the Celts were struggling to make good shots.

Oh you mean like 8 wide open shots from bass?

I think that's Tim's point.  The Cs weren't knocking down shots that they generally make. 

[CelticG1]

Ill tip my hat to the Sixers but they suck. 8th seed, bunch of mediocre talent. What you saw the second half of the season is what they are, an 8th seed playoff team.

Celtics have been disgustingly bad for 2 games and if they lose this series its gonna be an epic collapse from the Celtics, not because the Sixers are that good

[esel1000]

Ill tip my hat to the Sixers but they suck. 8th seed, bunch of mediocre talent. What you saw the second half of the season is what they are, an 8th seed playoff team.

Celtics have been disgustingly bad for 2 games and if they lose this series its gonna be an epic collapse from the Celtics, not because the Sixers are that good

agreed

[Moranis]

Ill tip my hat to the Sixers but they suck. 8th seed, bunch of mediocre talent. What you saw the second half of the season is what they are, an 8th seed playoff team.

Celtics have been disgustingly bad for 2 games and if they lose this series its gonna be an epic collapse from the Celtics, not because the Sixers are that good

They certainly lack the #1 gold medal superstar and don't have a top of the line #2, but they have a lot of lower level #2's and #3's.  They are in fact pretty similar to those Detroit teams of the mid-90's (though I think Detroit was generally better, Detroit had no where near the depth).  The Sixers are well constructed team and if they had a legit #1 would have been one of the favorites.  In fact, I'd say they are pretty similar to Indiana and are essentially a slightly better version of Chicago without Rose.  They have interior scoring from Brand, tough defense on the wing and down low, some good outside shooters, and as a whole are very unselfish.  To top it off they are still very young and have some young players that have the talent to reach that next level (Holiday, Turner).  I mean seriously look at their playoff rotation, Brand is 32, Iggy is 28, no one else is over 25 (Sam young is 26 and played in one playoff game).  This is a young energetic team that can cause any team a lot of problems.

[Chris]

I don't think we should expect blowouts in this series.  Philly had the 3rd best defense in the NBA this year, behind Chicago and Boston.  They're going to make things tough for us.

Not only that, but how good was their defense earlier in the season when Hawes was last healthy?  They had a big slump late in the year, but have got their groove back now.  This was one of the best teams in the league when the year started.

[scaryjerry]

Ill tip my hat to them once they win the series....which looks entirely possible...not so confident theyre getting game 3...as a matter of fact I expect the celtics to get annihilated and run off the floor... expect an explosion from lou williams, loud transition dunks from Iggy and role players like Jodie meeks to be drilling 3's ..biggest game for the 76ers team in a decade...gonna be nuts in phili

[Celtics18]

Ill tip my hat to them once they win the series....which looks entirely possible...not so confident theyre getting game 3...as a matter of fact I expect the celtics to get annihilated and run off the floor... expect an explosion from lou williams, loud transition dunks from Iggy and role players like Jodie meeks to be drilling 3's ..biggest game for the 76ers team in a decade...gonna be nuts in phili

Wow!!

[scaryjerry]

Ill tip my hat to them once they win the series....which looks entirely possible...not so confident theyre getting game 3...as a matter of fact I expect the celtics to get annihilated and run off the floor... expect an explosion from lou williams, loud transition dunks from Iggy and role players like Jodie meeks to be drilling 3's ..biggest game for the 76ers team in a decade...gonna be nuts in phili

Wow!!

Or it could go the other way like in 09 when chicago split with us at home and fell asleep in game 3 back home(only game in that series that wasnt a nail biter)
I expect the celtics to win the series...I also expect them to get run off the court at least once in phili especially if they dont get a starving fanbase out of the game early