Banner Town Breakdown: Celtics vs. 76ers Game Three (August 22, 2020)
The Celtics went into game three of their series riding the high of a blowout in game two. The key for this game was going to be to not step off the gas or give the Sixers any room to breathe. They were going to have to keep the energy up like they had in the past couple games.
Right off the bat, it was announced that Al Horford (6 pts, 10 reb) would be in the starting lineup for the Sixers. He found himself matched up with Jaylen Brown (21 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast) early, and it was not pretty. Brown, whether guarded by Horford or not, was cooking early in the first. Horford is just too slow to keep up with the Celtics’ starting lineup.
Boston was firing on all cylinders in the first. Great defense as a team and some good offensive production from their big three. Joel Embiid (30 pts, 13 reb) looked solid, but there’s only so much the Celtics can do to stop him. It’s inevitable that he’ll get some buckets. The Sixers looked like they were being out-hustled and outplayed in the first.
The Sixers looked discombobulated on the offensive end. Boston was all over the place (in the best possible way) and was doing a good job of containing most of Philly’s offense. Kemba Walker (24 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl) was playing great offensively, but his hustle on defense was also very evident. Outside of Embiid and a little bit of Tobias Harris (15 pts, 15 reb, 4 ast), the Sixers couldn’t generate any offense.
Boston went on a cold stretch to end the first. They also brought in a unit with Grant Williams (7 pts) at center, so rebounding the ball looked like an issue. Then once Embiid came back in, he was destroying the C’s on the glass as well. All those things added up to Philadelphia closing the gap.
The Celtics continued to play very sloppy basketball into the second quarter. Lots of turnovers and way too many wasted possessions. The Sixers started grooving on offense around that time, too, which made for a bad combination of events. The only reason Boston was even staying in the game was due to a couple nice threes by Brown and Brad Wanamaker (5 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast); as well as a crazy circus shot/and-one from Marcus Smart (14 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast, 3, stl).
Luckily for the Celtics, once Embiid went to the bench again they were able to get things going. Maybe more of it was the fact that Philly wasn’t able to get much of a flow on offense at that point, but either way Boston took a small lead that they were barely sustaining. The C’s were especially struggling as Jayson Tatum (15 pts, 6 reb, 4 blk) spent a lot of time on the bench after picking up three fouls in the first.
By the end of the first half, one thing was clear - the Celtics couldn’t make shots. Boston had to focus up and take smarter shots instead of trying to force certain things to get going. Just let it flow.
Despite their struggles, the C’s held a small 51-49 lead going into halftime.
One thing I’ve started noticing more this game is Harris’ complete inability to finish at the rim. There have been multiple easy put backs that he missed by a mile. He may be a solid shooter, but boy is he bad at finishing.
I would never outright blame the referees for a Celtics loss, but the calls in this game through two and a half quarters seemed pretty lopsided. The Sixers were bullying Boston’s guys everywhere and getting away with it. Meanwhile a guy on the C’s could breathe on Embiid and he’d get to the line. It was a little bit wack.
Walker was on a mission to start the third. He played well in the first half, but he was the main reason Boston was maintaining their small lead in the third. Walker made a couple nice shots and followed them up with a crafty and-one finish at the rim.
Tatum’s foul trouble seemed to have the entire Celtics team on edge. Everyone just seemed to be playing hesitantly… aside from Walker. Without Walker, Boston could have easily gone down by a decent margin in the third.
Although the shooting wasn’t amazing still, Boston was able to grow their lead ever so slightly by the end of the third. The reason? Really solid defensive intensity. There were a few plays that ended in the Sixers getting an open look, but for the most part Boston was doing great at being everywhere on defense. No one was sitting around, everyone was hustling, and the energy was great all around on that side of the ball.
As the fourth developed, things were looking very close. Both teams were starting to successfully convert on the shots they were missing all game, but Boston was making more. Tatum, after getting into that early foul trouble, was finally coming alive in the fourth. He and Walker had the Celtics on a mini run early on, but Philly was not far behind.
The middle of the fourth saw Boston playing very sloppy basketball. A tough goaltending call on Daniel Theis (8 pts, 5 reb, 2 blk) with the and-one started the run, and some bad decisions with the ball made it worse. Soon enough, the Sixers were only one point behind the Celtics.
The energy of the Celtics was awful late in the fourth. With around four minutes left everyone on the offensive end looked like they were moving in slow motion. It was way too much iso ball and not enough effort as a team. The Sixers took a one point lead and Boston wasn’t getting anything flowing on offense.
A really tough couple of calls on Theis meant he fouled out with about three minutes left in the game. Neither looked like very convincing calls, and one even went to the replay off of a Brad Stevens challenge.
The real reasons Boston was struggling this game, aside from Scott Foster, were the lack of rebounding and lack of offensive consistency. The flow of the offense was terrible the entire game. On top of that, Philadelphia murdered the C’s on the offensive glass. Absolutely unacceptable.
Late in the game, though, Boston was still fighting. Philly had all the momentum until Smart made an amazing steal leading to an and-one finish by Brown. The very next play Tatum got a great steal that led to a fast break. Josh Richardson (17 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk) committed a clear path foul, giving Tatum two shots at the line and the Celtics the ball.
Walker then proceeded to hit a signature step back mid range. Cardiac Kemba baby. A huge close out run for the C’s.
The Celtics ended up winning by the skin of their teeth in this one. Now, did they deserve to win? Probably not. Did they? Yes. Why? Because as bad as the Celtics were, Philly was simply worse. They shot less than 30% from the field. Ouch.
Boston needs to pick it up in game four and throughout the rest of the playoffs if they want any chance at a deep playoff run. The offense in this one just looked terrible.
The Celtics went up 3-0 against the 76ers in this one, just squeaking by with a final score of 102-94. Huge game for Walker. Catch game four on Sunday, August 22nd at 1:00 PM EST.
