T.J. McConnell sparks 76ers over Celtics in Game 4: 3 takeaways

In a win-or-go-home Game 4, the Philadelphia 76ers made a change to their starting lineup by inserting T.J. McConnell, and he sparked the 76ers to a victory.

Entering Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Philadelphia 76ers had one choice: Win or head home for the summer. After three games of stagnant offense and a faltering defense, head coach Brett Brown decided to make a change to his starting lineup by replacing Robert Covington with energetic guard T.J. McConnell. It worked.

McConnell scored 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting while adding seven rebounds and five assists, and Dario Saric chipped in 25 points and eight rebounds as the Sixers defeated Boston 103-92 to win their first game of the series.

Early on, the contest was ugly, as foul trouble that would plague the Celtics all game slowed the rhythm of the game to a crawl. Despite Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris all picking up three fouls in the first half, Boston entered halftime down just four at 47-43.

In the second half, McConnell really shined. All throughout the third and fourth quarters, McConnell found ways to the rim, where he was able to finish or provide open looks for his teammates. The constant drives to the rim ignited the crowd, especially late in the third quarter as the Sixers went up double digits and held off a late Boston run with some good defense down the stretch.

Takeaways:

The 76ers stopped launching: While the Sixers got to the playoffs in large part because of their 3-point shooting, the Celtics have done a great job in the series taking away clean looks from behind the arc for Philadelphia. On Monday night, the Sixers decided to adjust, mostly by moving Dario Saric inside the arc. Throughout the night, Saric found his way down to the block, where he posted up Tatum, using his footwork and size to get easier looks.

After taking 14 3-pointers over the first three games of the series, Saric took just three in Game 4. That change helped Saric finish with 25 points as he led the team in field goal attempts. The adjustment was a teamwide move as Ben Simmons also found himself in the post fairly often, something that McConnell’s ballhandling allowed with the lineup change.

Marcus Smart is getting comfortable: As he continues to work his way back from a month off due to thumb surgery, Marcus Smart wasn’t perfect on Monday. But there were flashes that should make Celtics fans happy. During one stretch in Game 4, Smart exploded toward and finished at the rim around contact, giving the Celtics yet another driving weapon in their ultra-spaced lineups. Considering that Boston is still missing their two best shot creators in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, getting offense from everyone on the floor is important. If Smart is getting closer to his normal self, it will be very important when Boston eventually advances to the Eastern Conference Finals.

That was ugly: Playoff series always tend to get physical and intense as they go forward, especially between young teams. That happened in Game 4, and it ruined the flow of the game early. Every few plays there seemed to be a whistle to stop play which didn’t help a game that saw both teams struggle to make shots. There also were four technical fouls called in the game, a double technical situation when Joel Embiid and Terry Rozier got into an altercation and an instance later in the game where Jaylen Brown and Brad Stevens were both whistled for arguing within a minute of each other.

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There were also other moments of chippiness in the game, including Embiid trash talking Marcus Morris while Morris flashed a reminder of the Celtics 3-0 series lead entering the game. The rest of this series is bound to get testy, especially considering the participants. Hopefully, it happens in games more enjoyable to watch than Game 4.