Boston Celtics focused on transition against 76ers

The Boston Celtics know what a difference winning the transition battle against the 76ers will make

The Boston Celtics are going into the second round knowing they might be playing the best team in the Eastern Conference,. The Philadelphia 76ers had the most impressive first round of the playoffs, and the Celtics struggled with a much worse Milwaukee Bucks team, and know there are a lot of problems that need to be fixed from the first round.

One big thing the Celtics always wanted to focus on against the Bucks was transition. The Celtics understand how important easy buckets are for such an inconsistent shooting team, and they need that offense generated from defense.

The Celtics need to be active on defense, and generating turnovers and getting going in transition is the best way for this team to get comfortable. Against the Bucks, they were up and down in transition, but it was also the biggest difference in their game seven victory.

The Celtics have a lot of active defenders and they have incredible athleticism that gives them many different options to finish with. The problem is that the 76ers are a much better transition team than the Bucks, and the Celtics could struggle to get an advantage in that area.

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The 76ers scored the sixth most total transition points in the regular season, while the Celtics had the seventh fewest. The 76ers are comfortable in transition and understand how they can use it as a weapon.The Celtics need to be the ones to step up their game in this respect, and the players are clearly aware of it.

The Celtics know they need to make this game as hard as possible on the 76ers, and winning the transition battle could make all the difference in which team wants to set the tone and be comfortable in the game. Multiple players have spoken about the 76ers’ transition success, so clearly Brad Stevens is making sure it is in the mind of the players.

The 76ers have a unique combination of supreme athleticism and outside shooting, so it makes sense they can do so much damage in transition. You are forced to use as many defenders as possible to account for someone like Ben Simmons blowing by people to the rim, but if you forget about the outside shooters, both Marco Belinelli and J.J Redick will make you pay.

They have stellar defenders that will generate turnovers, and then getting back on defense effectively could be the most difficult part of this game.

On top of that, the Celtics are still figuring things out for themselves in transition, and if Jaylen Brown is missing, that could make all the difference. Brown Is one of their most active and long defenders, and is able to disrupt a lot and generate steals. He is also the most electric finisher in the league, while being one of the strongest defenders in transition.

Brown is Boston’s best overall transition player, and that applies for both ends of the court. The Celtics still have the players to be successful in transition, but they have to trust players that are no where near as talented as their counter parts.

Transition is just one aspect of the game, but it can impact many others. Both of these teams will understand the value of easy buckets. They both depend on the three point shot a lot, but that also means they need the transition play in order to account for when the shots are not falling, which will inevitably happen to this Celtics team.

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The Celtics probably cannot hope to be a better three point shooting team than this version of the 76ers, but if they get an advantage in transition, the 76ers will have to be at their very best from three to win the game.

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