The Boston Celtics erased a 22 point deficit to get their seventh straight victory in London
The Boston Celtics could not have gone into the London game against the Philadelphia 76ers feeling any better. They were as rested as they have been all season, as healthy as they have been since opening night, and they were riding a six game winning streak. Then the game actually started and all of that was thrown out the window.
The Celtics came out flat on offense, forcing all kinds of isolation and preventing anyone from getting going. Jayson Tatum was a non factor and Kyrie Irving could not stop front rimming his shots. The Celtics fell down by as many as 22 points, and they went into the half without many indications that they could turn it around.
The Celtics looked brutal out there, and then Tatum turned things up a notch. He brought a phenomenal scoring boost to start the third quarter, and then everything seemed to fall in place from there. Ben Simmons was not imposing his will, and it felt left every part of the Celtics offense improved. They did everything they needed to in the third, so that things were too far gone for the 76ers in the fourth.
They managed to erase the 76ers’ lead quickly, and actually win the game quite comfortably. They cannot be happy about the 104 points given up, but with the way the offense looked to start the game, 114 points is enough to get excited about.
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The Celtics once again showed how important their offensive balance is. They managed to score enough points to pull them away from the 76ers, but nobody scored more than 21, with five players with at least 13 points. It was far from perfect, but the Celtics made it work enough on offense to overcome what was a well played game by the 76ers.
J.J Reddick was on fire to start the game, Simmons was able to impose his will early on, and this might have been Joel Embiid’s best game against Al Horford. This was not the best shot the 76ers have, but it was a good shot, and the Celtics managed to pull things through despite playing an inconsistent and incomplete game.
It is great to see the Celtics once again turn around a performance. They have multiple 20 point comebacks, making it abundantly clear that they will not be fazed by any amount of points to overcome.
The Celtics clearly started this game flat and out of rhythm. There is no doubting that the Celtics needed that extra rest after the brutal stretch in December, but they needed some extra time to really get things going. They need to make sure they do not fall into this trap of believing they can pull things through in the second half.
It was fine against the 76ers, and they have done it against even better teams, but the Celtics know they are leaving too much to be desired on the court when they put themselves in these far too difficult conditions.
The Celtics were good enough once they figured things out against the 76ers that they really did not have to worry too much in the end, and did not need a miracle in the clutch. Hopefully the Celtics will still take that as a bit of a wake up call to try and make sure they do not come out flat after the extra rest following the London game.
Next: Celtics Fully Prepared for London Game
The Celtics ended up representing well in London, but there are still some clear problems that need to be addressed. The Celtics should have a comfortable schedule the rest of the way and having extra rest lead to that slow start is something they can never make a habit of.