Boston Celtics need to exploit 76ers wings on defense

The Boston Celtics know the Philadelphia 76ers do not have any answer for their wings

The Boston Celtics had one of their strongest performances of the season in game one, and they exposed the Philadelphia 76ers defense in a terrible way. Chances are the Celtics will not shoot just under 50 percent from three again, but they have multiple players that will be able to exploit the 76ers in a way that they cannot account for.

A big reason for the success of the 76ers in round one was there three point shooting wings, because Marco Belinelli and J.J Redick were too difficult for the Heat to account for. Against the Celtics, they could end up being the liability that costs them the series.

The Celtics have some of the most dangerous and athletic wings in the NBA, and Robert Covington is the only wing on the 76ers that has any chance of matching up physically. It really is amazing that Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier had so much time with those smaller wings on them, because they will be able to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

Both of them have the size to shoot over either of them, they have the strength to finish though them, and they have the speed to blow by them. Tatum did not even need to get going from three point range, because it was too easy for him to blow by these defenisve liabilities, and often draw contact when the help came.

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With Rozier, he is way too active for these guys to stay with. He has so many ways of creating space, and if the shot is falling like it did in game one, there is no way the 76ers will be able to contain in.

When you add on that Jaylen Brown, the most athletic wing on this team, should be returning soon, and the 76ers have a problem they may not be able to overcome. Unless the 76ers are prepared to drastically change their rotation and assignments, there is no one they can just throw on these wings with hope of slowing them down at all.

The Celtics know that the 76ers have more than enough weapons to bounce back on offense. Even if the Celtics keep up the defense, they will hit more of the difficult shots. That being said, there is no reason to think anything will change with the wings in this series.

The Celtics have invested a lot of time and resources in developing their core of wings that are a nightmare for any team to account for. The Celtics built up the biggest strength of this offense, exactly where the 76ers can be exposed.

The Celtics saw how effective they could be, and both Tatum and Rozier attacked every chance they’d get and made sure to help facilitate everything around them as well. The Celtics were able to generate all the offense they needed from the wings, and had the 76ers running wild trying to account for them. These wings were able to attack, but did not let it slow down the rest of the team around.

I’m sure the 76ers will have some sort of response, because everyone could see how ridiculous it was to have Belinelli or Redick on any of these wings for any extended period of time. The 76ers, however, also have to take into account the fact that they still need the shooting of those wings to have their best offense.

These players are too crucial to their offense to just take them out of the lineup, and as long as they are on the court, the Celtics will have an advantage that they know they are more than capable of exploiting.

Both of them had great games, but they were not fluky games. Tatum knows he does not need to shoot well to score a ton of points and generate offense, because his size and length allows him to go over or around any o these guys.

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With Rozier, all he ever needs is a bit of space. He gets out of control when defenders are able to disrupt his rhythm, and catch him off guard. In this one, Rozier is able to dictate everything, and when your defense is chasing him around and guessing how he will attack, you can expect him to kill you on the inside and the outside.