Banner Town Breakdown: Celtics vs. 76ers Game Two (August 19, 2020)
The Celtics took on the Philadelphia 76ers in game two of their first round matchup in this one. With the Celtics winning game one, but also losing Gordon Hayward to injury, they are definitely looking to keep the pressure on Philly in game two. Meanwhile, the Sixers will look to capitalize on Boston losing one of their top players to injury.
Joel Embiid (34 pts, 10 reb) opened up the game in a dominant fashion, making his first few shots. He did the same in game one, but failed to keep his momentum going into the second half. On the other hand, Jayson Tatum (33 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) got hot early, making a couple shots for Boston. These are definitely the two stars to watch during this series.
The Sixers were on fire to start the game. Everyone was making shots for them and it seriously felt like they couldn’t miss. Guys like Josh Richardson (18 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast) and Shake Milton (14 pts, 3 reb, 4 ast) were hitting their shots, and if Philly wants to have any chance in this series, they will have to continue to do so. Tobias Harris (13 pts, 11 reb) was making some tough shots, too.
By the end of the quarter, Embiid was still hot, but Jaylen Brown (20 pts, 5 reb) was doing his best to keep the Celtics in it. He helped the C’s pick up their overall intensity, and things started looking up. He attacked the basket and even hit a nice three on the wing.
Boston was not going away without a fight, no matter how absurd Embiid was playing. (And boy was he playing out of his mind.) Tatum even got in on the action and made a ridiculous half court heave with the seconds ticking down. Momentum was slowly shifting.
The Celtics started looking like their real selves in the second quarter. Tatum was a flamethrower and put on an absolute show in the first half. He was a huge reason why the Celtics were able to crawl all the way back into the game and even take the lead. It was all Boston.
Both teams ended up shooting very efficiently in the first half, but the Celtics were still able to assert themselves as the better team. Kemba Walker (22 pts, 4 reb), Brown, and Tatum were the three musketeers for Boston. All three were spectacular in the first half, and Boston’s bench looked good, too. On the other hand, Embiid was the leader for Philly, with Richardson and Milton acting as his sidekicks. The Celtics went into the locker room up 65-57.
Things were not much different coming out of the gates in the second half. Boston was still putting on a show and Philadelphia was struggling to get much going on offense. The Celtics’ defense was smothering the Sixers every chance they got, but Philly was missing some decent looks, too. All things were pointing to the Celtics midway through the third.
Grant Williams (9 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast) came in looking really solid for the Celtics. In game one he played very few minutes, but in the minutes he did play seemed to bring the intensity back to a Celtics squad that was looking groggy. In this one, he brought that same energy and tenacity against the Sixers in this one. Romeo Langford (6 pts) even got in on the action hitting a three on the wing. A very promising game for the young guns of the C’s.
Boston was dominant through three quarters. Philadelphia was the aggressor in the first, but after that it was all Celtics. Tatum was a monster for the entire game. The really interesting thing, though, was that Boston did a lot of their work with a bunch of role players on the court. They would roll out a lineup of two of their starters along with some bench guys and it was working. That’s the type of success Boston needs in order to make a deep run in the playoffs.
The post-first quarter Sixers just seemed completely lost on the offensive end. The Celtics were playing gritty defense and not leaving them any space to shoot. After the first it was quite literally Embiid against the world. That’s just not going to get it done.
Boston ended up continuing their dominance through the rest of the game, as the Sixers weren’t able to get anything going outside of Embiid. Boston got help from a variety of places, including Enes Kanter (10 pts, 9 reb) hustling on the offensive glass, but Tatum was the shining star in this one. No matter how good the Sixers defended him, he was just getting anything he wanted from anywhere on the floor. It was Tatum’s world and everyone was just living in it.
On a more fun note, the Celtics benchwarmers looked super solid in garbage time, too. Even Tacko Fall saw a tiny bit of playing time, which gave Celtics fans that little extra happiness at the end of the game. I mean, who doesn’t love a little Tacko Time?
The Celtics silence any doubters after Hayward’s injury with a huge (FINAL SCORE) victory over the 76ers, taking a 2-0 lead in the series. Game three is on Friday, August 21st at 6:30 PM EST.
