Process that!!!

[86MaxwellSmart]

Speaking of slow footed, who was saying reddick was very good defensively earlier? That didn't age wel

Redick WAS a good defender---but that was on Ray Allen, like 9 years ago.

[Beat LA]

Philly didn't show up to this game.  They will inevitably snap back and we need to be prepared for that.  They are an incredibly talented group.  Factors that could have contributed to tonight:

- 6 day layoff added a bit of rust
- Shook by facing a real playoff crowd after vacationing in Miami's empty arena
- Not prepared for Boston's level of defensive intensity
- They didn't anticipate Terry Rozier going off like he was Khris Middleton
- They celebrated their first playoff series win like they won a title - even drenching their coach in chocolate milk:  https://streamable.com/q472a ... these kids are still riding an emotional high and didn't have their gloves up when Boston came swinging for their teeth
- Vegas has them as the the favorites to win the Eastern Conference.  That means they are facing real expectations and pressure for the first time ever...

Love how Boston played tonight.  We exploited some real matchup weaknesses.  Hopefully Philly keeps sucking like this.   I wouldn't write them off yet... let's see how they respond.

Personally, I'm just glad Boston didn't get swept.  We had home court and were supposed to win Game 1.  Philly can easily take control of this series in Game 2 if we aren't careful.

I mean honestly, who drenches someone else in chocolate milk even if the latter is backed by science ?

[keevsnick]

I mean obviously Phili will shoot better from 3, and we will shoot worse from 3 as a whole. However we clearly have a pretty good system for defensing guys like Giannis and Simmons in place which should help stymie their offense to some extent.

In addition although Phili has good defenders the lack of outside shooter from Embiid/Simmons means that they have to play at least 1 exploitable defender at all times whether that Reddick or Bellinelli. So the Celtics can attack that match up like  they did with Tatum tonight. With Rozier, Morris, Tatum and Brown hopefully back that guy can get exploited. If they switch that matchup with Reddick and have Simmons cover that guy and try to hide Reddick on say Smart then we go small with Al, pull Embiid away from the basket and all of a sudden the rim will be wide open because Simmons cant roam. We have enough guys that can drive to take advantage assuming brown returns. In short, we are a tough matchup for them thanks to Al and even tho we dont have a  dominant scorer we have five or so guys who can go off.

That said, this series feels like a Bucks or Wizards series. Going seven with home team winning each one cuz we play terribly on the road.

[Ilikesports17]

Philly was lazy on D and won't be that lethargic again.

However, there are a few things that do give me hope for our offense over the rest of the series.

Horford's ability to drag Embiid out to the perimeter really limits his effectiveness. When he can patrol the paint he is a truly elite rim-protector and a big part of the reason they were the league's #2 defense down the stretch. Pull him out of the paint and the equation gets easier.

Redick and Belineli are very mediocre perimeter guys. Tatum and Brown(hopefully) should be able to get by them at will which combined with Horford pulling Embiid out of the paint, should hopefully make for consistent offense for us.

We will need a couple more crazy performances over the course of the series if we want to upset Philly, but I feel better than I did this morning. Much better.

[Drucci]

This team never ceases to amaze ! I mean, I thought  we could win even without JB but I expected a tough game, decided  by 3 points or less... not a "we're in control all the way and never looking back even when Philly is making runs".

Sure, we won't shoot as well from three like we did tonight (although it felt overdue to get this kind of performance) and Philly won't miss as many wide open 3's as they did tonight (rust definitely played a factor, I think). But our team looked really confident, at ease. If we were to compare with the Milwaukee series, I felt like it was always tougher to score against them, no basket was easy and their runs were "real" runs to get the lead back, whereas tonight it felt like every Celtic played with an extra gear (because it's Philly ? or because of the media hype around them?). Reddick definitely looked slow and if it's not a one game thing we'll have a huge advantage with Tatum (and Reddick also made very poor decisions, I mean, why double Shane Larking to let Horford free from 3 ??).

It was obvious with Tatum, I love how the game meant so much to him and you just saw it in his ultra aggressive play but he didn't say anything otherwise like Rozier could have done.

Horford was also very impressive, our team looked unbeatable when he was on the court. And Smart was great despite taking like three 3's in a row after offensive rebounds while you wanted him to stop shooting it.

Who would have thought sitting JB out would be a blessing in disguise so that Tatum could assert himself offensively ? To win like that without JB, Kyrie and Hayward... just wow.

[mr. dee]

This version of Sixers is talented but I felt that the 2012 is more gritty. They have tough players like Iggy, ET,Lou Williams, Thad Young, Holiday and Lavoy Allen who hustled all series long and made it difficult for the aging Big 3. I haven't seen a kind of players in this Sixers team like we have in Marcus Smart.

[rollie mass]

Baynes hit two three's and Semi one those two by Baynes just killer and helped the next game as they will have to give attentiont his corner three-keep Baynes for next season as he will develop his three point shooting.

[SHAQATTACK]

trust MR Stinky

[Donoghus]

Philly played like a team that was rusty and a little too caught up in their press clippings.  I definitely think there was a part of them that thought that they’d just waltz into Boston & the Celtics would rollover.

They got that wake up call real fast.

[Chris22]

I can't get Tatum's crossover that left someone in dust out of my mind.
I think it was Saric.

[ChillyWilly]

No Kyrie. No Hayward. No Jaylen. 8 man rotation.

Tatum 28 points. Fultz 0.

Simmons still having problems at the line and can't hit a shot but a layup. Also 7 TOs.

Rozier with 29/8/6....are people really still thinking we are a better team if we trade this guy for a draft pick? Really?

Philly....bite me. Hate the Sixers almost as much as the Lakers.

We almost traded Rozier for Serge Ibaka last year. Glad that did not happen.

No we didn't Troz3 was off limits.

[Donoghus]

No Kyrie. No Hayward. No Jaylen. 8 man rotation.

Tatum 28 points. Fultz 0.

Simmons still having problems at the line and can't hit a shot but a layup. Also 7 TOs.

Rozier with 29/8/6....are people really still thinking we are a better team if we trade this guy for a draft pick? Really?

Philly....bite me. Hate the Sixers almost as much as the Lakers.

We almost traded Rozier for Serge Ibaka last year. Glad that did not happen.

No we didn't Troz3 was off limits.

Plenty of people are here were clamoring for Ibaka, though.  And straight up slamming Ainge.

[kozlodoev]

The Big Three. Rozier / Tatum / Horford. 83 combined points.

Here's the thing. Saric, Covington, Reddick, and Bellineli were combined 3 for 17 from three. That's probably not going to last throughout the series. If they shoot up to anything resembling their normal rate and we give up 30 and 12 to Embiid, the remainder of the series will be a lot tougher than game one.

[hpantazo]

The Big Three. Rozier / Tatum / Horford. 83 combined points.

Here's the thing. Saric, Covington, Reddick, and Bellineli were combined 3 for 17 from three. That's probably not going to last throughout the series. If they shoot up to anything resembling their normal rate and we give up 30 and 12 to Embiid, the remainder of the series will be a lot tougher than game one.

They will shoot better, but if the Celtics keep up their perimeter defense, they won't shoot that much better. Those guys are not athletic or quick, the Celtics defense of the 3 point shot is largely what caused their low percentage in game 1. Brett Brown said as much in his post game comments.


I'm more concerned that we likely won't approach 48% shooting from the 3 point line again ourselves, including 2 threes from Baynes.

[spikelovetheCelts]

I can't wait till Brad unloads our secret weapon. Greg Monroe!!!!!