After a stunning loss in Game 1, the Celtics wanted to send a message in Game 2. They needed to after their worst flaws were exposed. They knew they couldn’t afford another performance like that and fall into a deeper series hole.
“They came in here and they got one on us on our home court,” Marcus Smart said, just about an hour before Wednesday’s tip. “We definitely want to send a message going back to Philly.”
Consider the message sent.
The Celtics have taken pride all season in being a resilient team, one that picks itself off the mat after bad losses with regularity. Wednesday marked possibly their best response yet, and once again offered a strong reminder of why they’re the championship favorite when they’re locked in and want to be.
And they didn’t even need Jayson Tatum.
The Celtics’ superstar was limited to just seven points because of foul trouble. He only played 19 minutes. It didn’t matter. Neither did the highly-anticipated return of Joel Embiid. The Celtics eviscerated the 76ers with a relentless dose of strong defense and hot shooting. They ran away with a blowout victory at a deafening TD Garden, sending this second-round series back to Philadelphia even at one game a piece after a 121-87 demolition.
Game 3 is set for Friday night in Philadelphia.
The Celtics were in control basically from start to finish. They set the tone on the defensive end, then put the game away with an offensive barrage during an electric third quarter.
Joe Mazzulla was unhappy that the Celtics only took 26 3-pointers in their Game 1 loss. They had no trouble hitting from deep as they sealed the game from the arc. Leading by 13 with less than five minutes remaining in the third, the Celtics went on a 19-3 run. Derrick White started the spurt with a pull-up triple before Malcolm Brogdon made a trio of triples, including a 27-footer that put the Celtics up 29.
The Celtics finished 20-for-51 from 3-point range, and the third-quarter onslaught was enough for Mazzulla to empty the bench. Payton Pritchard entered the game to start the fourth quarter, and the rest was a formality.
Other takeaways:
– The Celtics knew they needed to be much better defensively after their Game 1 performance, and they backed up their word to start Game 2. Their effort and intensity was where it needed to be, and it was exemplified early by one play from Smart that helped set the tone. The point guard – taking on the assignment of defending Embiid – forced the big man to lose the ball. Moments later, he dove after a loose rebound and corralled it to send the Celtics running.
The C’s limited the Sixers to just 22 points in the first quarter with the help of hustle and defensive plays like that. On another play, Tatum lost the ball but Grant Williams dove on a loose ball before finding Smart for a 3-pointer.
– Jaylen Brown was locked in early. On one sequence, he scored a bucket, then immediately got back on defense to guard James Harden, clapping in his face. Brown scored 13 of the Celtics’ first 18 points, starting the game on 5-for-6 shooting.
After Harden’s 45-point outburst in Game 1, the Celtics were much better on him. Malcolm Brogdon was a mixed bag against him. He blocked a Harden 3-pointer and deflected it off him out of bounds, but then was whistled for a pair of fouls, including on a 3-pointer. Harden started the game 2-for-10 but got to the foul line eight times in the first half. As good as the Celtics were defensively, they still sent the Sixers to the free-throw line 16 times in the first half – all Harden or Embiid.
– In Game 1, the Celtics ran a layup line through the interior of the 76ers defense without the presence of Embiid. But his return deterred them from doing so again. Embiid recorded five blocks in the first half as the Celtics only had 18 points in the paint. After shooting a season-low 26 3-pointers in Game 1, the Celtics had 22 attempts from deep at halftime. But some of them weren’t in rhythm and they only made eight.
– Jayson Tatum was whistled for three fouls – including two offensive fouls – and only played 13 minutes in the first half. But the Celtics still held an eight-point halftime lead thanks to a great offensive start from Smart, who scored 13 points in the first half.
– Derrick White didn’t have a great shooting start to the series, but he still managed to make an impact in Game 2. The biggest play of the first half came in the second quarter when he flew in for an offensive rebound and found Al Horford for a 3-pointer that put the Celtics up 12, which forced a Sixers timeout. Horford showed some emotion after drilling the shot as he let out a big scream.
White got going in the second half and finished with 15 points to fuel the Celtics’ late surge.