Sunday night started off ugly. The Boston Celtics got absolutely smacked by a short-handed Philadelphia 76ers squad in the first half of this game. Tyrese Maxey went ballistic in the first quarter, and he didn’t cool off until very late in the game when the Celtics started throwing some extra pressure his way.
For most of the night, it looked like Philadelphia was going to walk away with a shocking blowout victory. But Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown refused to go down without a fight. They nailed some huge shots in the second half, and the Celtics locked in on defense. At one point, the Celtics were down by 26 points, but they came all the way back to earn a 118-110 win.
Stud - Jayson Tatum
Though he committed a few unfortunate turnovers and wasn’t great defending in transition, Tatum picked up the pace on offense right when the Celtics needed him to.
Philadelphia threw a ton of pressure at him all night, and he responded just like he always does—by dishing out a bunch of crisp passes to his teammates.
Tatum nailed some shots in the middle of the 76ers’ zone, giving them some life in a lifeless offensive first half, but he really picked up the pace as the game went on.
His gravity alone was enough to help the Celtics, but his shot-making and passing were crucial, too. This game is a prime example of why Tatum is one of the best players in the NBA.
Dud - Transition defense
Every time the Celtics missed a shot in this game, the 76ers ran. And the Celtics simply failed to keep up with them.
No matter who had the ball for the Sixers, the Celtics got beat in transition. Philadelphia got easy runs to the rim, wide-open threes, and everything in between.
Some of the time, Boston was going for offensive rebounds and got outrun, but even when that was the case, they didn’t adjust quickly enough. Philly was outrunning them the entire game.
The Celtics’ efforts in transition were lazy and unacceptable.
Stud - Jaylen Brown
Big-time players make big-time plays, and perhaps more importantly, big-time players make big-time shots. That’s what Tatum and Brown did on Sunday night.
Both exploded in the third quarter, and Brown was amazing when he got to his spots. This game continued a stretch of games where his efficient scoring has spearheaded Boston’s offensive attack.
Other parts of his game weren’t ideal—he got beat off the dribble a bit too easily—but the shots he hit in the second half of this game helped get Boston back into it. (And he was great on the glass and as a facilitator, too.)
Dud - First-half shot-making
In the first half of this game, the Celtics couldn’t make anything. Boston consistently whiffed on wide-open looks.
It didn’t matter if the Celtics were taking layups or threes, the Celtics just missed. They missed everything. Boston was generating great looks, but nothing was going down.
And to make matters worse, they were also failing to get back on defense after their misses, which played into their terrible transition defense.
Stud - Derrick White
Late in the fourth quarter, when the 76ers decided to start doubling Tatum, Derrick White was the recipient of some wide-open looks from three. And he buried them.
White had been ice-cold for a while, but he’s finally returning to form, and he looked great against the 76ers. He gave Boston a bit of everything.
The Celtics guard was efficient from the field, nailed his threes, dished out a ton of assists, and gave Boston some solid defensive rim pressure, too.
White did a bit of everything on Sunday night, but his clutch shot-making stood out the most (just as it seemingly always does).
Dud - Close-outs
In a lot of cases, this issue occurred in transition, but the Celtics were late on close-outs all night against the Sixers, even when they were playing defense in the half-court.
Oftentimes, it looked like the Celtics were intentionally giving guys some space in hopes of preventing drives. But the 76ers took advantage of the space they were given.
Everyone from Maxey to Guerschon Yabusele to Justin Edwards made them pay from behind the arc, and an undermanned 76ers squad was able to get rolling because of it.