The rivalry between Boston and Philadelphia is an ongoing phenomena. There will always be drama, excitement and a lot of stress. The Celtics now have a 1-0 lead in the series after beating the Sixers 109-101.
What went well
Joel Embiid, the dominant big man, came ready to play. He led the Sixers with 26 points and 16 rebounds. Alec Burks also had himself a night with 18 points, and six rebounds. He made a three as soon as he entered the game and maintained his aggression whenever he was on the court.
Al Horford played with compassion and vengeance tonight. It seemed like he used this game to let out all of his anger. Though his six points are not noteworthy, his defense was beneficial.
Jayson Tatum absolutely had a fantastic game with 32 points, but Matisse Thybulle was able to slow down his momentum (Tatum shot just 2-9 when guarded by Thybulle). Furthermore, he even blocked a Tatum three on his first defensive possession against him.
The controllables that went wrong
TURNOVERS. The Sixers finished with 18 total turnovers, in comparison to the Celtics’ seven. What makes that number even crazier is that they had 11 turnovers in the first 18 minutes of the game (three turnovers with eight minutes left of the first quarter, six with four minutes left of the same quarter). At that early juncture, the Celtics had 13 points off of those turnovers.
Though Embiid had a dominant game, he only took 14 shots. It seemed as when the Sixers needed him the most, the ball was not in his hands. The Sixers’ offense simply runs better when it is run through Embiid. When he is in the game, sending him down into the low post and giving him the ball will go a long way towards the success of this team.
Similarly, the lack of Tobias Harris is extremely problematic. Harris had 15 points on 6-15 shooting. He only took 3 three-pointers, and did not make a single one. Harris came out strong but faded after the first half.
Josh Richardson’s consistency is not apparent. In the bubble, he ranges from 4-34 points per game. Tonight he came in clutch when needed with a total of 18 points, six rebounds, and two assists. However, his basketball IQ did not seem to be present.
Can the Sixers still win the series?
Going into this series, we were already aware of the disadvantages. If the Sixers cannot make the necessary changes, they do not stand a chance. Hopefully the Sixers can turn things around for Wednesday’s game at 6:30.
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