Celtics crush Sixers 128-101, take a 2-0 series lead as Philly stumbles

The Boston Celtics took a two-game lead in their series with the Philadelphia 76ers as Philly struggled to defend Boston’s deadly young wings.

The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers switched up their lineups and their means of attack to try and play to their advantages coming into Game 2, inserting Marcus Smart and Matisse Thybulle into the starting lineups.

Boston won the opening tip and forward Jayson Tatum got the Celtics on the board quickly with a 3-pointer, but the 76ers came out very aggressive, wing Josh Richardson getting Philly on the board and jumping out to an 11-5 lead early.

The Celtics missed six of their first eight shots, but Tatum and shooting guard Jaylen Brown kept the Celtics close. A Marcus Smart drive led to a successful coach’s challenge that converted a foul to a turnover, and a pair of treys from Philly put the Sixers up 21-9.

Philly kept their foot on the gas, but rookie Grant Williams draining a trey seconds after entering the game kept Boston from disaster. Brown began to heat up, and he and Tatum cut the lead to seven with a minute to go in the frame, and hit a trey in the waning seconds to put the score at 33-27 going into the second quarter.

Raul Neto hit a layup to start the second frame, and Enes Kanter of all people drilled a 3-pointer soon after. Another Tatum 3 cut the lead to just three points, and Boston would retake the lead on a Brad Wanamaker make.

The Celtics kept up the pressure, maintaining a slim lead until Wanamaker hit a 3 to push the lead to eight, and a trip to the line for Brown pushed the lead to 13. Philly made a small run with Shake Milton and Tobias Harris hitting a jumper and then heading to the line.

A Richardson layup would cut the lead to seven, but Walker answered back with a jumper. A last-second shot by Walker got the UConn product to the line as the first half expired. He converted both shots, sending the Celtics into the break up 65 – 57.

The penultimate frame began with a Tatum floater and a Brown layup to push the lead to 12, and a Smart and-1 and a Brown dunk extended it to 74-59 with a little under eight minutes left in the quarter.

A 3-pointer from Brown and an and-1 make from Walker gave the Celtics a 19-point lead, and despite Philly digging in defensively, the lead grew to 22. Philly would chip away at the lead little by little, cutting it to 17 on a trip to the line for Furkan Korkmaz.

Boston fought back with Williams heading to the line and Langford nailing a trey, and a Tatum 3-pointer pushed lead right back up to 22. The Sixers had no answer, the Celtics finishing the frame up 98-75.

The Celtics started the final frame with a Kanter make, but the Sixers kept trying to cut into the lead with Milton and Alec Burks scoring early in the frame. Boston came right back with a pair of makes from Tatum sandwiching an Al Horford 3-pointer to put Boston up 105-86.

Boston kept up the pressure as Burks threw a behind-the-back pass away, creating an easy transition layup for Wanamaker, and another 3 from Tatum set the lead at 23. Out of gas, Embiid would head to the bench with 6:30 to play in the game.

A Smart trey assisted by Robert Williams III would give the Celtics their biggest lead of the night at 26, forcing a timeout. Both teams pulled their starters with more than five minutes left in the game.

Fans of center Tacko Fall got to see the two way fan favorite in his first playoff minutes, Boston winning in a 128-101 blowout.

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