Boston Celtics: the “Jays” massive in C’s game-one win over Philadelphia

The Boston Celtics start off the postseason with a 1-0 series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers, winning game-one 109-101.

If you weren’t confident in the Boston Celtics coming into this year’s playoffs, you must be pretty encouraged now. Despite the fact that the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cs in both the height strength departments, Boston managed to utilize their greatest strength last night to come away with a game-one ‘W’: talent.

It was quite a physical game for both parties, as there were 45 combined personal fouls called — one of which being a flagrant committed by Al Horford on Jaylen Brown. Despite it not being a foul, Gordon Hayward (12 points, four boards, three assists, four steals) himself got roughed up in the final quarter, landing on his teammate’s foot after fighting for a rebound and, ultimately, sustaining a right ankle sprain that sidelined him for the remaining 3:08 seconds of play.

Leading the way for Beantown were the two “Jays” in Jayson Tatum — one of our major keys to victory listed prior to the match — and Jaylen Brown, who finished with 32 and 29 points, respectively. Both played unbelievably well on both ends of the court, banging down low for boards (Tatum grabbed 13 rebounds), fighting for loose balls (Brown had two steals), and not making things easy for the opposition to buy a bucket (Tatum registered three blocks).

Kemba Walker also played a massive part in the Boston Celtics’ victory tonight, recording 19 points and five assists while also providing solid defensive efforts. It was a great sight to see Walker going full-throttle (played 35 minutes) on the court after months of uncertainty over his nagging knee ailments.

As for the 76ers, Embiid finished the night with 26 points, 16 rebounds, two steals, and a block while Josh Richardson and Alec Burks finished with 18 points apiece.

As previously stated, this game was unbelievably competitive and a great defensive exhibition, particularly by the physically-inferior Celtics. Boston forced Philadelphia into many challenging shots tonight and, kudos to the Sixers, were converting at an oddly effective rate, like during this play here:

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All in all, however, the Cs were able to have the last laugh, coming away from tonight’s game with a 109-101 victory and, at the moment, find themselves up 1-0 in this best of seven series.

The two teams will square off next on August 19th for game-two. Tip-off will commence at 6:30 PM (ET).

As always, go Celtics!