How Boston Celtics defend polarizing 76ers guard will be ‘key storyline’ in Eastern Conference semifinals series
How the Boston Celtics defend polarizing Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden will be a “key storyline” during the Eastern Conference semifinals’ No. 2 seed-No. 3 seed matchup between the two teams — this, at least, according to Boston.com’s Tom Westerholm.
“James Harden will need to turn back the clock if the Sixers will be without Embiid in Games 1 and 2, and he might need to do so anyway,” Westerholm wrote. “The Celtics defend him pretty well – Marcus Smart has famously battled him in the past, and Derrick White keeps his hands back and avoids fouls against top-notch foul drawers like Harden better than just about anyone in the NBA. How the Celtics defend him – while also keeping an eye on Embiid, if he plays – will be a key storyline.”
As Westerholm pointed out, the top-ranked isolation scorer struggled mightily against the Cs during the final two matchups between Boston and Philadelphia.
“Harden shot 5-for-16 and 7-for-17 in his final two games against the Celtics during the regular season,” Westerholm wrote. “The Celtics were generally okay with switching his pick-and-rolls and leaving big defenders like Grant Williams and Al Horford on an island to defend his step-back 3-pointers and isolation attempts, but Harden remains one of the NBA’s better iso players – scoring 1.10 points per possession, which is in the 83rd percentile.”
Philadelphia should be ‘much more interesting test’ than Atlanta was for Boston Celtics
Westerholm is of the belief that the Atlanta Hawks — who took the Boston Celtics to six games in the first round of the postseason — will prove to be a lesser test than the Sixers are set to be in the east semifinals.
“The Celtics might have looked ahead to their series against the 76ers one game too early – dropping a Game 5 against the Hawks that they should have won – but now everyone can put Trae Young in the rear view and examine the next opponent,” Westerholm prefaced before saying, “The Sixers promise to be a much more interesting test. In the regular season, the Hawks had the 19th-best net rating in the NBA and the league’s 22nd-best defense. The 76ers trailed only the Celtics and the Cavaliers in net rating – owners of the third-best offense and the eighth-best defense. The Hawks were led by a talented-but-flawed star who needed to be on the floor but took quite a bit off of it. The 76ers are led by the league’s presumptive MVP – a destructive two-way force who warps entire game plans.”