The Philadelphia 76ers are aiming for a strong response in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Boston Celtics after Boston’s Game 1 victory.
The Celtics won breezily. Now the Sixers have logic against them along with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla will keep insisting to his players that the Sixers are no pushovers and any lapse by Boston or overconfidence could cause trouble. Nick Nurse will need to pull plenty of motivational tricks from his bag for the Sixers.
Maxey’s Scoring and the Sixers’ Offence
A key factor for Game 2 is Tyrese Maxey’s scoring ability. If the Celtics make it hard for Tyrese Maxey to score, then they’ll also make it hard for the Sixers to win.
The strategy is to throw multiple bodies in Maxey’s path and make him break a ton of sweat to wear him out, frustrate him if possible, and leave him with little gas by the fourth quarter.
If this is successful, it’ll be up to his teammates to counter with points. The Celtics can throw Brown and Derrick White at Maxey, force him to surrender the ball, dare the others to shoot and live with the result.
In Game 1, the Sixers resorted to shooting 3s but shot only 2-for-16.
Tatum’s Continued Recovery
Jayson Tatum is rounding into shape right in time for the Celtics to make a deep playoff run.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown lift the Celtics to a Game 1 victory over the 76ers.
The last two times Tatum took the floor in a playoff game, he hurt his Achilles (last spring) and then nearly notched a triple-double (last Saturday).
Embiid’s Potential Impact
If Nick Nurse can reach deep and pull out Joel Embiid, that’ll certainly do wonders for Philly and this series.
All this is made possible by the absence of Embiid, who might not suit up this series.
The defensive blueprint would be completely different against the Sixers if Embiid were healthy. But he’s not, so it isn’t.
They don’t necessarily need to win Tuesday (7 ET, Peacock/NBC Sports), but simply make it a four-quarter game and the last few minutes meaningful.