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Celtics beat 76ers in roller-coaster Game 2: 3 takeaways

By Jason Patt

BOSTON, MA - May 3: Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics exchanges high fives with Terry Rozier #12 and Marcus Morris #13 against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game Two of Round Two of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 3, 2018 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - May 3: Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics exchanges high fives with Terry Rozier #12 and Marcus Morris #13 against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game Two of Round Two of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 3, 2018 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Boston Celtics first erased a 22-point first-half deficit, then made a late surge from five points down in the fourth quarter to take a 2-0 series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Boston Celtics have beaten the odds so many times this season, it makes perfect sense that they would go up 2-0 on the Philadelphia 76ers after entering the series as a heavy underdog. It’s even more fitting that the Celtics did it by erasing a 22-point deficit in their 108-103 Game 2 win on Thursday night.

After a dominant Game 1, Boston came out flat in Game 2. The Celtics’ early offense featured a lot of dribbling and a lot of bricks, while J.J. Redick got the Sixers out to a hot start. Philadelphia couldn’t buy a 3-pointer in Game 1, but all of a sudden those triples were going down and just like that it was a 22-point advantage midway through the second quarter.

That’s when the Sixers went off the rails. Their offense completely fell apart, and their defense was sluggish getting back in transition as the Celtics ran it down their throats while Brett Brown strangely opted against using any timeouts. Jaylen Brown — back from his hamstring injury — capped off a 25-8 run to close the half with an alley-oop slam:

It was one of three big dunks for Brown in his return to action:

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/992206620196294656

Boston surged ahead in the third quarter behind Jayson Tatum’s 10 points, only for Philly to punch back and grab a five-point lead with 5:48 to play.

However, the Celtics made the big plays when it mattered. Terry Rozier’s star turn continued with eight points down the stretch, plus this awesome alley-oop lob to Tatum:

Al Horford delivered the dagger by cooking Joel Embiid off the dribble with 8.3 seconds remaining.

Takeaways

Never count out the Celtics. The Celtics made an almost absurd habit in the regular season of getting down big and then coming back to win. It even happened in the London game against the Sixers, so it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise that it happened again. No team goes from complete dumpster fire to fire-breathing dragon quite like the Boston Celtics.

It’s even more amazing that they’re still doing it in the playoffs without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. The Celtics are getting significant contributions from all over the roster. Tatum scored 16 of his team-high 21 points in the second half. Rozier was clutch again and finished with 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Marcus Smart hit four 3-pointers en route to 19 points. Horford had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists, playing superb defense. Brown made an impact while playing through pain. Marcus Morris hit a big 3-pointer and had 11 points off the bench. Greg Monroe helped turn the tide when the game was ugly in his first minutes of the series.

It’s a testament to not only these players but also to Brad Stevens that he can get so much from these guys, and that they never quit no matter the deficit. Stevens is truly a coaching wizard.

Ben Simmons was invisible. Game 2 was an absolute nightmare of a game for the rookie. A lot of credit goes to the Celtics for their game plan in defending Simmons, with Horford getting the primary assignment and doing an excellent job not letting him get to the basket.

However, Simmons was strangely passive and out of sorts all night. He scored one point, missed all four of his shots and turned the ball over five times. He was a minus-23 and didn’t turn in a strong defensive effort after a solid start on that end. Backup T.J. McConnell soundly outplayed Simmons and was a plus-16 in his 17 minutes, but Brown went back to Simmons for the stretch run. While some will surely question that decision, Brown trusting his potential Rookie of the Year makes sense, and hopefully this will be a learning experience that will make Simmons a better player down the road.

Also, improving that jumper will help Simmons’ cause, because he’s afraid to take them right now and the Celtics know it.

Next: 30 best shots in NBA playoffs history

The Sixers still have a chance in this series. The Celtics have never lost a best-of-seven series after going up 2-0, but don’t count out the Sixers just yet. While Boston has been incredible at home in these playoffs, it has been a different story on the road. The Celtics made 32 3-pointers in these first two games, but they likely won’t continue to shoot as well away from TD Garden.

Philly still has two elite players in Embiid and Simmons. Simmons was awful in Game 2 and Embiid was just okay (20/14/5 but poor shooting and foul trouble), and the Sixers still had a chance to win. J.J. Redick had another big game with 23 points and Robert Covington stepped up with 22 points. If Philly can get all or most of its important players going at the same time, this series could easily come back to Boston tied at 2-2.

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