Celtics eliminate 76ers and punch ticket to the Conference Finals: 3 takeaways
By Ian Levy
The Celtics won the the first battle in what should be an epic playoff rivalry over the next decade, eliminating the 76ers in Game 5.
Before this series started, Evans Clinchy wrote about how the winner was irrelevant. Neither of these teams would be favored in a Conference Finals matchup against the Cavaliers or Raptors, and beyond that the Warriors and Rockets were lurking. This series was about setting up a future rivalry, as two of the younger teams in the NBA took their first steps towards building something special.
The series only ran five games, but it did not disappoint. We had strategic chess matches, heated words on and off the court and a penultimate game that was one of the most exciting in the playoffs thus far. The Celtics emerged victorious but the outcome was very much in doubt until the final moments. Just check out the peaks and valleys of this live win probability chart from Inpredictable.
The Celtics gained an edge in the second quarter. The 76ers took it back in the third. Both teams traded double-digit runs in the fourth and some costly end-of-game mistakes by Philadelphia, along with some excellent execution from Boston, were the deciding factor.
Takeaways
Tonight was Marcus Smart’s turn to play hero. Smart’s defense has been typically phenomenal all season long and he was there in the final moments of this game to help Boston seal it. His post defense (i.e., flop attempt) on Dario Saric forced a turnover and, after accidentally making a free throw he was trying to miss to run out the clock, he intercepted Philadelphia’s hail mary inbounds pass. Smart was just 3-of-8 from the field and 8-of-13 from the free throw line (lots of attempts, lots of misses) but tacked six assists, six rebounds and three steals onto his 14 points. With Shane Larkin out, Smart spent more time with the ball in his hands and the Celtics were +10 in the 33 minutes he was on the floor.
Embiid and Simmons were uncomfortable. Simmons struggles in this series have been well documented. Embiid has put up some huge numbers but hasn’t been particularly efficient and both players looked extremely uncomfortable, finding themselves pushed out of their favorite spots and their rhythms disrupted. Embiid scored 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting but did most of his damage in the third quarter on step back jumpers from the mid-post, rather than scoring around the basket. Both players have immeasurable talent. The next step is figuring out how to make that transcend the context of one of the best defenses in the league.
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Boston still has nothing to lose. The Celtics get a rematch with the Cavaliers in the Conference Finals, and a shot to try and finally disrupt LeBron’s playoff mastery of the East. It’s a reductive narrative but this is all gravy for the Celtics. They’re playing without their two best players (although who knows if that will still be true by the time next season starts?) and have gone farther than anyone expected. If they can’t get past LeBron, they still get another set of hugely important, high-leverage opportunities for Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier to learn and grow. But these Celtics certainly have the pieces to challenge Cleveland, especially using the kind of high-pressure defense Indiana bothered them with in the first round. You can still win the jackpot even if you’re playing with found money.