BOSTON — The Celtics knew the challenge that lied ahead and they responded.
Going up against a 76ers team that delivered a major gut-punch by stealing a win from Boston on its home floor in Game 1, the Celtics needed to show a sense of urgency and they did. The Celtics applied a major learning lesson from Game 5 against the Atlanta Hawks in Round 1 and even in Game 1 in Philadelphia to begin their Eastern Conference semifinals series: Don’t let off the gas and close out the night.
Well, they did that, in fact pretty easily, defeating the 76ers with Joel Embiid, 121-87, to knot up the series at 1-1. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who had plenty of reason to smile, didn’t but instead highlighted what he most enjoyed from Boston in Game 2.
“They were angry, frustrated,” Mazzulla said.
Mazzulla’s on whether or not he liked that response, particularly: “Yes, yes.”
Before the game, Mazzulla noted that the Celtics needed to lean on their outside shooting, which propelled them during the regular season after recording just 26 attempts — a season-low — in Game 1. Yet while that was achieved with flying colors as the Celtics drained 20-of-51 attempts, Mazzulla attributed that very success to how Boston went about its defense.
“I thought we just had a defensive presence to us and that led to our offense and we did a great job of just playing great, fluid offense throughout the game,” Mazzulla explained. “… I thought our defense led to our energetic offense and I thought we did a great job of not passing up open looks and we still got good looks at the rim. So we just have to continue to find that balance of creating two-on-ones, finding the right time to shoot it and I thought the game was connected.”
While anger could certainly fuel just about anybody, the Celtics were well aware that no matter how Game 1 might’ve cut into a few hours of sleep, the 76ers would be there waiting and doing their part at keeping Boston from bouncing back.
“All of these challenges, you can’t run from it, you can’t hide,” Jaylen Brown said. “You just gotta accept it, add on and come out and play Celtics basketball.”
Here are more notes from Celtics-76ers Game 2:
— Joel Embiid made his much-anticipated return after missing two games and the C’s did their part at limiting his impact. The Celtics held the league MVP to 15 points off nine shot attempts.
“He looked good to me, so we’ll see about the next game,” Brown said. “… We know, playing against the MVP obviously everybody is gonna get up. But I just think defense is all about pride. Defense is all about effort. And we gotta do a better job no matter who’s out there. So our team defense and our team intensity has been lacking throughout the playoffs.”
— Boston committed just six turnovers and held the 76ers to only five points off those miscues. This was a massive improvement from Game 1 when the Celtics turned the ball over on 16 occasions, leading to 20 points for Philadelphia.
— Jayson Tatum disappeared in Game 2, scoring just seven points while attempting only seven shots in 19 minutes on the floor. That underwhelming scoring total flirted with Tatum’s career-low scoring mark (four points), which he notched back in 2018.
— Marcus Smart was questionable coming into the game, but still took the floor and provided the Celtics with a pivotal boost on the offensive end. Smart scored 15 points with five rebounds, two assists and a block to ensure his defensive presence would also be felt by Philadelphia.
— The Celtics, now knotted up with the 76ers, 1-1, head over to Philadelphia to continue the best-of-seven battle. Tipoff from Wells Fargo Arena on Friday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
