Boston Celtics welcome the 76ers to the playoffs
The Boston Celtics gave the Philadelphia 76ers a proper welcome to the NBA playoffs in their game one victory
The Philadelphia 76ers went into the second round series against the Boston Celtics at their season high. Fresh off the winning streak to close the season, they were the most impressive team in the East with their dismantling of the Heat. When it was announced that Jaylen Brown would miss the game for the Celtics, most expected the 76ers to run away with game one.
Instead, the Celtics once again delivered in a way that few thought was possible, and they dominated the 76ers on both ends. The Celtics got stellar performances from everyone who saw the court, with everyone knowing when to attack. The 76ers responded by shooting miserably and never getting comfortable at any point.
The 76ers came to this game with expectations to do to Boston exactly what happened to them, and they will quickly learn how difficult it is to make the adjustments that lead to playoff wins. The 76ers did not face many obstacles against the Heat, and the Celtics made it clear that the 76ers will not be able to get anything easy in this series.
The 76ers won’t be able to just rely on their talent, because the Celtics have their own young players who are earning all the respect and they have a coach that is putting them in a position to take the 76ers away from their game.
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The 76ers had been comfortable and performing well for over 20 games prior to their loss to the Celtics, and now they need to figure out how to make things work for this first time since beginning their impressive streak.
No, the Celtics cannot expect to shoot almost 50 perfect from three and the 76ers will surely be able to break 20 percent with ease, but if the 76ers take that for granted they will be in a lot of trouble. The Celtics know what they need to do in order to beat this 76ers team, and the 76ers have a lot of problems that will be difficult to fix.
The 76ers are dealing with wings that are different physical specimens from what they have, and there is no obvious answer as to how they can guard Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier and, when he comes back, Jaylen Brown, with defenders like J.J Redick and Marco Belinelli.
Even if you can see a clear talent disparity that the 76ers should be able to take advantage of, they still need to figure out how to use that talent. Right now, the Celtics have the personnel to attack the defensive weaknesses of the 76ers and they have the elite athleticism and versatility to offer some resistance to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
The 76ers know that if all their talent comes together, they should be able to overcome this Celtics squad. What they are quickly learning, however, is that it is not going to be easy to play their best against the Celtics, who have significantly more playoff experience, even with their young players.
The 76ers still need to learn how to beat tough teams in the playoffs, and game one was their first real lesson. The 76ers will surely come back with a game plan to change the course of this series, but they are the ones under all the pressure.
Next: No Jaylen Brown, No Problem
The Celtics have been playing with house money, and the 76ers know how important it is to bounce back from a loss, especially with Brown missing that first loss. You can expect the 76ers to be better, and the Celtics shooting will certainly regress, but this is the most vulnerable the 76ers have looked so far these playoffs and this is going to be the biggest challenge in the young careers of their special talent.