![]() Give credit to the Sixers, though, as they certainly had a game plan heading into the game.Įvery time Tatum drove, the Sixers had two players pinching in to close the space while also stepping up to his drive to take the contact and draw a foul. A single-digit scoring night and more time spent on the bench than on the court not exactly what you expect for the face of your franchise. Tatum’s Game 2 performance against the Sixers was a weird one. Keeping Jayson Tatum on the floor Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images ![]() However, the move to assign Jaylen Brown to him worked wonders, so perhaps we should expect to see more of that throughout game three. Finding a way to keep Harden subdued will be a significant factor in how the Celtics fair in their upcoming game. Regardless of how Boston did it, they managed to nullify Harden’s impact and, thus, limited the Sixers' on-ball creation, something which they don’t have much of beyond Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton. So, as you would expect, the Celtics adjusted their defense and limited the Sixers' ability to set those early screens in Game 2 - of course, it helps when Embiid is on the floor and is the last one down the court on each possession. Yet, a core part of Harden’s performance in that game was how the Sixers created space for him on the perimeter by utilizing drag screens in transition. What followed next was a throw-back game for the ages, as Harden and the Sixers left the Celtics shell shocked. All it had was a golden sticky label across the middle, with the words ‘Michael’s secret stuff’ hurriedly scribbled onto it. This bottle had no branding, no eye-catching color scheme. Sitting in the visiting team’s locker room on May 1, gearing up for the first game of the series between the Celtics and Sixers, James Harden reached into his backpack and pulled out a blue water bottle. Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images With that being said, let’s look at three things that could swing the game in Boston’s favor. Nevertheless, control of the series hangs in the balance, and as such, the Celtics should come to enter the game with one thing on their mind: domination. Both teams will have made adjustments, and the physicality will begin to ramp up. Playoff games aren’t that simple, though. So, if Philadelphia can do it without their star player, then a full-strength (minus Blake Griffin) Celtics’ roster can certainly return the favor. However, they can take solace in the fact that a Joel Embiid-less Sixers waltzed into the TD Garden and casually hijacked the opening game of the series. The Boston Celtics can certainly expect a hostile environment when they take to the court for the third game of their second-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Series tied 1-1, heading into enemy territory, on a night where their best player is being honored for his MVP award in front of a packed-out arena.
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