The Philadelphia 76ers walked into TD Garden down 1-0 and missing Joel Embiid, staring down a Celtics team that had handled them in Game 1 and that the national media had already crowned the favourite in the Eastern Conference. They walked out 111-97 winners, with their two young guards leading a shot-for-shot punch-back at the defending brand-name of the conference.
Tyrese Maxey finished with 29 points and took complete control of the fourth quarter. Rookie VJ Edgecombe went for 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting with 10 rebounds and looked nothing like the first-round jitters he showed in Game 1. Paul George added 19 points. Philadelphia now heads back home to close out back-to-back contests with a chance to take a commanding 2-1 series lead.
"This is a confidence builder, especially without Embiid," former NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said on NBA Gametime. "This is one of those big wins that you need. I mean, now it's a series evened up. They got one at home and you always want to get one. No matter what you understand when you go into Boston, the crowd's going to be into it, it's going to be a tough game. But if you go in and get one, now you have some confidence."
For veteran Rudy Gay, the surprise was not just the result but the tone Philadelphia set from the opening possession: "That surprised me. With the way the Celtics dominated Game 1, I thought it might have been a sweep. And for Philly to come out and hit them in the face first, and those dynamic guards that have great games and lead that team to victory on the road like that, says a lot about that Philly team."
Boston's night was defined by one number: 13-of-50 from three, a 26 per cent clip that cannot win a playoff game. Jaylen Brown carried the Celtics with 36 points and was aggressive throughout, but Jayson Tatum went 8-of-19 for 19 points and never found a rhythm. The Celtics continued to shoot over Philadelphia's drop coverage rather than adjust into the teeth of the defense.
"I also think it's a little bit of strategy, just the threes that you do take," Thomas said. "You know how they defend it and what they're allowing you to take. The playoffs is totally different basketball, and you can't go in there thinking that you're just going to be able to play the same way. This is something that the Celtics ran into trouble with last year. We'll see if they make the adjustment."
Gay was less convinced the Celtics will move off their approach. "I think they're going to live and die with it because that's just been something that they've always done. And more times than not they came out on top, and it's just one of them days where I think they settled a lot. But that's their strength — getting a lot of attempts up and making a lot of attempts. They got to figure something out when the days they're not making them."
Edgecombe's emergence was the swing factor. In Game 1 the rookie looked overwhelmed. In Game 2 he was the Sixers' lead dog through three quarters before Maxey slammed the door shut.
"VJ, he really held the fort down," Gay said. "He really hit them in the face first. He led the group. Obviously Maxey took control in the fourth quarter, especially the last five, six minutes. But VJ, he didn't look like a rookie tonight. Game 1 he looked more like a rookie where the moment was really big for him. But tonight it was like he was the lead dog of the group and everybody followed him."
The structural problem Boston has not solved is how to contain Philadelphia in transition and how to live with Maxey in drop coverage. In one brutal third-quarter stretch, the Sixers ran their pick-and-roll into the Celtics' drop three straight possessions and Maxey punished them each time.
"If they can stay in transition, they're tough," Thomas said. "That backcourt — we were just talking about how dangerous they are, that two-headed monster with Maxey and Edgecombe. These guys delivering in this game with Philadelphia needed to win in the worst way."
Game 3 tips Thursday in Philadelphia. If Embiid is anything close to available, a team that just beat the Celtics on their floor without him becomes a genuine problem.
