Post Game Thread - First Round Playoffs, Game 3 vs Sixers

[bobheckler]

Don't ask for whom the bell tolls, Sixer fans, it tolls for thee.  Ok, so Hemingway I'm not, but you get the point.  It's OVAH!  Maybe they win the next one, to salvage their pride, but then they'll lie down.

To be fair, they showed a lot more heart in this game than they did in Game 2.  They really crashed the boards and played physical.  Poor Marcus Smart.  He'd be in traction if this went to 7.

They stayed in this game by positively dominating the boards, they ended up +12, +17 on the offensive boards, and because Joel Embiid lived at the line.  They had 20 offensive boards, TWENTY!, while we had only 3.  They also had a 34-24 edge from Frito Land.  Furthermore, Jayson Tatum picked up 3 fouls in the 1st quarter and didn't play any of the 2nd.  He shot an abysmal 6-19 and was 2-9 from 3.  We should have been demolished.

The reason why we weren't is because of our defense and their horrendous shooting.  There wasn't much we could do about Embiid, especially with him getting the benefit of every whistle on offense, but we rotated pretty well otherwise.  Even on Embiid, when Marcus Smart was anywhere in the area he often had to pass out of the double team, and that's what we needed to have happen.  They shot 29.5% from the field.  If it wasn't for the zebras this would have been a blow out.

We have committed a grand total of 23 turnovers in 3 playoff games.  That is remarkable, and I cannot blame their lackadaisical defense.  We have been executing, carefully and surgically, at an elite level on offense.  

This was the best post All-Star game Kemba has had.  I've been wondering about him, wondering if his reduced usage numbers (because he's on a team now that has other shooters) had affected his approach to the game where he wasn't effective anymore, but this game put that to bed.  Tatum picked up a couple of fouls early (unnecessary ones, I might add) and Kemba just said "give me the ball".  24 points in 35 minutes, efficient 10-20 shooting.  4 assists and only 1 TO.  In a weird wrinkle, and perhaps explanatory as to our rebounding deficit, Kemba tied Marcus Smart for team high rebounds with 8 each.

For the life of me I do not understand what the refs have against Theis.  Embiid was beating the snot out of him and Theis was getting whistled.  Maybe they think "we won't call your seals "moving picks", but we're giving you nothing on defense"?  Smart and Theis are getting physically HAMMERED this series.

Brad's bench substitution approach is interesting, and was discussed by SVG last night.  Most coaches play their rotation players the way it has worked well for them all season.  Brad tells bench players "here's when you're going in the game, it'll be to match up with Players X, Y and/or Z".  So it's not minutes-related, it's match up related.  If there's an advantage to having a young bench it might be that this approach really boils it down for them, they now know who they need to watch a lot of film on and who they don't, and also because they are young and, therefore, more likely to swallow these marching orders.  Older players might chafe at playing fewer minutes because their opposing match ups don't get put on the court, so neither do they, but younger players are just happy to get any court time.  So far, it has worked.

Witness the play of Grant Williams.  In my opinion he is having himself a very good playoffs so far.  He clearly knows where he's supposed to be and what his role is.  His defensive rotations have been beyond what I would have expected from a rookie.  I credit some of that to his high BBIQ but also to Brad making it clear to Grant what he needs to focus on when he's in the game.  Simplification for a young'un is a blessing.  He is 3-3 from 3 in the playoffs.  Not bad for a rook who set an NBA record by missing his first 25.

We tied the 2nd quarter, and Jayson Tatum didn't play a minute of it.  They can't ask for a bigger opening than that.  He played all 24 minutes of the 2nd half, and went 4-12 in it.  Okay, maybe they didn't ask for it but they did get an even bigger opening...

Our "offensively crappy bench" outscored their bench 20-9.  Celtic high BENCH scorer?  Grant Williams.  If he was 2" taller he'd be an All-World PF someday.  As it is he's a tweener, but has the smarts to figure out how to make it work for him.  

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401236270




bob


.

[dboss]

I hope everyone enjoyed the game last night.  I spoke with my friend in Boston at the end of each quarter and assured him that "we got this".

The Celtics pushed the Sixers to the very edge of this weird season with an inspiring 102-94 victory.

This was no easy task.  The Sixers fought hard all game long.  They banged us on the glass all night and their big grizzly bear, Joel Embid, sweated his way to a 30/13 game. His efficiency however, except at the charity stripe, was not there.  He shot only 7-20 from the field and our swarming defense forced him into 4 turnovers.

This was a frustrating game at times as our budding superstar was strapped down with 3 personal fouls in the first QTR and had to ride on the bench during the 2nd.

These are the type of challenges that you expect.  Our rotation stepped up to keep us ahead.  This game was all about having everything to win and having everything to lose.
 
One team is mired in the gloom and doom of not having their Golden Boy and the other team doesn't give a damn who can play.

The game of basketball minus all the statistics that are poured over and measured to find some resolve in the final outcome, really comes down to one or two plays.  Plays that take possession away from one team in favor of the other.
 
Wrapped around this activity is the notion of invincibility.  It's a mental state of mind that clearly separates  one team from the other.  No one on this team better exemplifies this reality than Marcus Smart.
 
Game 4 is tipping off tomorrow at 1 PM, a mere 40 hours since the final buzzer ended the humiliation of the Sixers around 9 PM Friday night.  


No matter what Brent Brown tells them, the Sixers are on life support and no one is coming to hold their hands as they approach the final second of another season lost to the Process.

Side Notes

Through 3 games the Celtics are averaging 113 PPG while the defense is holding the Sixers to 98 and some change.    Last night the Sixers managed an unsightly FG percentage of 29.5%.  They did not miss all those shots on their own accord.  We helped them along the way.
 
Big Al Horford played 38 minutes last night.  The last time he played that many minutes was on 5/6/2019 in a game 4 loss to the Bucks during the playoffs.  Do you want another cup of coffee with your toast?

Did you know that Jaylen Brown has been working diligently on his free throw shooting? He has been knocking down big time makes at the line all series.  He has shot a blistering 20 for 21 or 95.2% .
 
We had a lively Zoom recap after the game joined by Swish, GYSO, Worcester and BobH (aka Bob Heckler)

[cowens/oldschool]

Glad you guys got this thread started, I enjoyed winning ugly, was great to see our team not have our 2 young studs have their A game and win it with desire and defense mainly. I was still extremely confident we were going to pull it out during all the ebbs and flows. Kemba looks like he has his burst back and his ability to take over a game was obviously huge as was Marcus Smart making his kind of plays. Tatum never got in his good rythmn, the refs helped that by calling him for some ticky tack fouls so early in the game. Good learning experience for a young team to execute and grind/play hard when you might not have it going to your usual high standards.

Kemba is coming on at the right time, he just goes after it, makes hustling defensive plays, sure every player can get beat, but I do not see him as a defensive liability at all. The 10-0 ending run was all triggered by the defense. Tatum had 4 blocks, Smart 3 steals, Theis always gives his all, and gives great effort and fight. Looking forward to see how 2 J’s bounce back next game, should be fun....

[bobheckler]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/why-did-sixers-start-al-061233080.html



Why did Sixers start Al Horford in Game 3 loss to Celtics? Brett Brown’s answer speaks volumes


Noah Levick
NBC Sports Philadelphia

August 21, 2020, 11:12 PM PDT


When the Sixers acquired Al Horford last July, their excitement was double-layered. In addition to acquiring a five-time All-Star they thought could solve the backup center problem behind Joel Embiid, the team plucked a key player from a rival - one who happened to defend Embiid quite well.

Now, as Horford's first season as a Sixer surely nears its end, there's a double whammy to consider. First, his four-year contract with $97 million guaranteed is troublesome in thinking about possibilities for improving the team moving forward. And second, it's natural for one to contemplate where the Sixers would be if the money spent on Horford had instead been used in better ways. Some hybrid of shooting, playmaking and competent backup center play certainly sounds preferable.

The 34-year-old Horford, appearing in the NBA playoffs for the 12th time, started Friday night's 102-94 Game 3 loss. Instead of sticking Matisse Thybulle on Jayson Tatum and bringing Horford off the bench, as he'd done in Game 2, head coach Brett Brown opened with the veteran big man and played him nearly 38 minutes.

Horford has had worse games as a Sixer, but his performance was not what the team required. He twice fouled Jaylen Brown on three-point attempts. The first infraction, a first-quarter mistake made after Horford had lost Brown cutting backdoor three possessions earlier, elicited mild frustration. The second sparked vehement disagreement before Brown's free throws erased a 90-89 Sixers lead.

While he did a solid job in pick-and-roll coverage and had some bright moments defensively, Horford has contributed very little on the other end of the floor through the series' first three games. On Friday, he scored six points on 1 for 5 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and had no assists.

So, why did Horford both start and close the game?

Just the importance of this game, the magnitude of this game," Brett Brown said on a conference call. "A little bit (him playing his) former team. Mostly just the moment. He's been in the playoffs for 12 years. He's Al Horford. There's a physicality that I know and knew he would bring to the table. And I just trusted his résumé, I trusted the fact that he was going to come with an adult mind and a physical presence. It didn't take a lot of thought, truly, to go through after you watch the series and so on.

"For me, it was kind of inevitable. You get to this situation, Game 3 … if we're going down, I'm going down with him. I thought that defensively, he was very good.

It would be wrong to portray Brown's decision to go with Horford over Thybulle as an egregious, unjustifiable error. Thybulle provides even less than Horford offensively at this stage and, though he's an ultra-talented defender, the rookie is not a singular remedy for Tatum.

Still, it's worth pausing for a second on that one line: If we're going down, I'm going down with him.

The Sixers' ship is sinking - almost completely submerged, in truth. Unless they become the first NBA team to ever come back to win a series after trailing 3-0, this very long, very unusual season will finish with a first-round loss. Horford embodied GM Elton Brand and the front office's desire to embrace good, old-fashioned "bully ball" way back when Brown was hoping for a No. 1 seed, and it looks like he'll be in the starting lineup when it's all over.

Of course, the Sixers aren't going to cede that the end is close. Brown took the same stance when asked whether he thinks about his future and job status.

"I don't," he said. "I really don't. I understand the circumstance. My job is to focus on what I really can do. My players deserve that. I've been in this city seven years. Tonight's loss is what's most on my mind. My effort is truly to try to find a way to win and keep this series alive and do my job for my players."

Embiid is averaging 30 points and 13 rebounds against the Celtics for a team that might not win a playoff game. In the regular season, the Sixers had a minus-0.5 net rating with Embiid and Horford on the floor. In the playoffs, the team has an outlandish minus-35.6 net rating in 62 Horford-Embiid minutes.

Not everything's underwater just yet. Nevertheless, the Horford-Embiid combination still isn't working, Ben Simmons' unique versatility is sorely missed and the Sixers are shooting 26.4 percent from three-point territory vs. Boston. The team's one healthy star is desperate for at least one playoff win in the NBA's "bubble" at Disney World.

"I don't want to be swept," Embiid said. "I don't want that on my résumé. Like I said, I'll be playing my butt off. I'm going to come in and do everything that I can to make sure that we win a game, and take it one game at a time."


bob



.

[sinus007]

Hi,
IMO, it was the most important game of the series. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back was our defense, especially handling of Embiid.
To be honest, it was 50-50: 50% of our efforts and 50% of 76ers inability to find more efficient way to score besides Embiid. I think, by the end of the game he was gassed and couldn't execute as good as he did in the beginning. BTW, 76res haven't scored a single point in the last 1:44 of the game.
Granted, Embiid's handlers were also exhausted, especially Theis: I can't otherwise explain his brain fart of bringing the ball and loosing possession and ending our run.
On the other side, I thought that JT just woke up and was going through the motions. I hope/predict that he'll blow 76ers out of the water tomorrow, just to make up for the previous game.

I hope Celtics will sweep 76ers. One of the reasons, besides the obvious, is SVG. 3rd game he can't stop talking about Ben Simmons: what a great player he is, he should be DPOY, how underappreciated he is and, of course, the outcome of the series would be different with him (obviously, not a word that Celtics're playing without GH). Last night his bias for Phily or against Celtics or both came to its apex. I can understand Tommy and other local announcers, but you are on a national TV, you're supposed to be neutral or, at least, make an appearance of it... I wonder if the Celtics hatred is a family thing?

AK

[bobheckler]

Sean Grande
@SeanGrandePBP
·
13h
With the win tonight to go up 3-0 on the Sixers, the Celtics reached another random-starting point milestone.

But if seems like the Celtics have won their share of playoff games since Kevin Garnett kicked off the New Big Three Era in 2007, here's why...



bob
MY NOTE: When you consider we went through a complete rebuild, and GSW and San Antonio have had dynasties, this is pretty amazing.

.

[RosalieTCeltics]

The fact that Embid just cannot be stopped at the beginning of each game is interesting. Then, why are they able to hold him to 8 pts in the second half??? It was clear, he and Richardson were the offense for that team. Al and Harris are out to lunch right now. Tomorrow may be different, but I doubt it. JT had a terrible shooting game for him, so they had better watch out, if he gets it going, and Brown and Walker throw down a few, this series is over tomorrow.

I do not care what they do on that team, there is no heart there other than Embiid. God knows he is trying hard, but if the calls stop going his way maybe this will be over in the first half. I know one thing, this team needs more than Simmons to turn it around

[dboss]

The fact that Embid just cannot be stopped at the beginning of each game is interesting. Then, why are they able to hold him to 8 pts in the second half???  It was clear, he and Richardson were the offense for that team. Al and Harris are out to lunch right now. Tomorrow may be different, but I doubt it. JT had a terrible shooting game for him, so they had better watch out, if he gets it going, and Brown and Walker throw down a few, this series is over tomorrow.

I do not care what they do on that team, there is no heart there other than Embiid.  God knows he is trying hard, but if the calls stop going his way maybe this will be over in the first half. I know one thing, this team needs more than Simmons to turn it around

Rosalie

JE is a large man but his stamina gets worn down as long as you beat on him throughout the game and play fast. It's called 'taking its' toll'

I thought the Sixers played very hard. But this thing of ours is about style. The era of an offense that relies heavily on feeding the 5 mostly in post sets and actions is old fashion.

[cowens/oldschool]

The fact that Embid just cannot be stopped at the beginning of each game is interesting. Then, why are they able to hold him to 8 pts in the second half???  It was clear, he and Richardson were the offense for that team. Al and Harris are out to lunch right now. Tomorrow may be different, but I doubt it. JT had a terrible shooting game for him, so they had better watch out, if he gets it going, and Brown and Walker throw down a few, this series is over tomorrow.

I do not care what they do on that team, there is no heart there other than Embiid.  God knows he is trying hard, but if the calls stop going his way maybe this will be over in the first half. I know one thing, this team needs more than Simmons to turn it around

Rosalie

JE is a large man but his stamina gets worn down as long as you beat on him throughout the game and play fast.  It's called 'taking its' toll'

I thought the Sixers played very hard.  But this thing of ours is about style.  The era of an offense that relies heavily on feeding the 5 mostly in post sets and actions is old fashion.

Totally agree, it’s a wing dominated league now and has been for a bunch of years now. You knew when Bird or Pierce had a bad game, they were coming back strong with a big game. This is the playoffs, I expect Tatum to respond accordingly....

[gyso]

Here's the Game Flow graph:



It was a fairly close game, with us in the lead most of the time.
In the beginning, we started to create some separation with some easy buckets.
That, along with some good defense and the 76ers were beginning to crack.
Then the two J's got into quick foul trouble.
We scored 2 points from 3:55 left in the 1st until 9:59 left in the 2nd.
That was a span of 5 minutes and 56 seconds. Almost half of a quarter.
Two fritos from Grant Williams accounted for those two points.
We missed a lot of easy buckets at the rim in that time.
Two Enes Kanter foul line jumpers got us back on track.
dboss shared some news about him getting some lobster, made me cry.
We outscored them by 2 points in the 1st quarter.
We played them even in the 2nd quarter.
We outscored them by 2 points in the 3rd quarter to lead by 4 going into the 4th.
We had another dry spell of 3:30 spanning the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th.
We scored 0 points in that span and the 76ers did little to take advantage of it.
The lead swapped back and forth 4 times in the 4th, starting with 4:30 to go in the game.
Philly tied the game at 92 all with 3:01 left in the game.
They took their last lead, 94-92 with 2:14 left in the game.
We scored 10 unanswered points to close out the win.
Great D helped shut them out for over 2 minutes.
Smarty Smart with a great anticipation steal to boot!
The refs helped out by calling a clear path foul. (it was)

[wideclyde]

Embiid is a tough cover for anyone on the Cs. Theis works like crazy, but he is so much smaller that he has trouble muscling with Embiid down low.

As I have been watching this series, I do find Mr. Embiid to get away with tons of offensive fouls on just about every time he pivots to face the rim. He literally clobbers whoever is covering him with either and elbow or a spinning back fist (MMA?) when he turns, and gets away with it every time.

I guess he gets the "star" treatment that has been so very obvious in the NBA forever. I wonder when Tatum will start to get this treatment from the officials.

[worcester]

As much as I respect Embiid's intensity and skill, if I were opposing him on defense I (if I were a foot taller and 60 pounds heavier) would go all Jim Luscutoff on him one play, either to his jaw or his balls,  to show Embiid that he's not the only one who can play dirty.  Jim was an enforcer for the Celts who set a limit on how physical other teams could play against us. Embiid's game is just not acceptable. He is not being responsible for how he wields his body against others, and someday someone will have a serious injury as a result. Nip this crap in the bud.

[worcester]

Re Grant Williams, since going 0-25 from three to start his Celtics career, he has shot 24/71. That's 33.8%.
Here's how the rest of the team stacks up.
Vince 50% on 2 attempts
Jayson 40.3%
Gordon 38.3
Jaylen 38.2
Kemba 38.1
Semi 37.8
Brad W 36.3
Marcus 34.7
Daniel 33.3
Carsen 31.6
Javonte 27.3
Romeo 18.5
Tremont 16.7
Enes 14.3
Rob W - no attempts
Tacko - no attempts

[dbrown4]

wideclyde,

The Celtics are and will continue to be exempt from any special treatment. They have won far too many titles than the rest of the league and therefore under the new new rules of the land where everybody gets a trophy unless you have all of them then you get none going forward, things will continue like they have been until further notice.

I'm not trying to be a smartass. This has befuddled myself and all of us on this site for years. Look most recently at our "And 1's" for starters and the obvious lack there of.

worcester, isn't the league average about 38%? I thought Daniel's would be a little higher. He doesn't take as many but he usually connects when he does. This series he hasn't made many if any because Embiid is daring him to shoot and he's subsequently been clanking them.

It's nice to have 5 studs like that who can hit at that pace anytime you need them! Great find!

db

[worcester]

Actually DB, the NBA average for three pointers in 2019 was 36.0%. Celts ranked 14th among 30 teams at 36.3%. We are probably a bit higher this year; but I don't have a source for that stat nor do I have the time now to visit basketballreference.com, add up all our 3 point attempts and made, and then do the math.
Check out this site:

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/three-point-pct

[dbrown4]

Does anyone want to do a Ben Simmons vs. Gordon Hayward count today for Game 4 on the announcer(s)?! I'm just going to throw out 8 to 1 to be safe. We can go on mention as well as actually time spent belaboring the point.

db

[cowens/oldschool]

Does anyone want to do a Ben Simmons vs. Gordon Hayward count today for Game 4 on the announcer(s)?!  I'm just going to throw out 8 to 1 to be safe.  We can go on mention as well as actually time spent belaboring the point.  

db

One of the best comments I saw on the Comments from the Other Side was a Sixer fan saying to the effect....if you think this offense sucks now be glad Simmons isn’t there to clog the paint making defenders double Embid even easier.

[bobheckler]

Re Grant Williams, since going 0-25 from three to start his Celtics career, he has shot 24/71. That's 33.8%.
Here's how the rest of the team stacks up.
Vince 50% on 2 attempts
Jayson 40.3%
Gordon 38.3
Jaylen 38.2
Kemba 38.1
Semi  37.8
Brad W 36.3
Marcus  34.7
Daniel  33.3
Carsen 31.6
Javonte  27.3
Romeo  18.5
Tremont  16.7
Enes  14.3
Rob W - no attempts
Tacko - no attempts

Worcester,

Thanks for doing the stat work.

What you showed was that, if you take the first 25 misses out of Grant's numbers (chalk them up to rookie jitters), he has shot 52% from 3 since then.  0-25 to start his career, 24-46 since.  That's pretty frippin' impressive and, you know, opposing coaches are not paying attention to what a player did back in 2019.  Leaving Grant open from 3 is no longer a viable defensive scheme and that elevates his value significantly since he is also a very effective passer.  Pulling his defender out to the arc is a big deal if the other 4 Celtics on the floor move without the ball.


bob


.

[sinus007]

Db,
Too late. The count should've started from game 1.
As for Simmons, he can be the best defensive player in the history of NBA but if you can't score from more than 5 feet you can't be a star.
Also, he's had 4 years to learn how to shoot...

AK

[worcester]

I just went to basketball-reference.com which did all the math for me already. In 72 games this season we as a team have shot .364 from 3, 905/2487. That placed us #13 in the NBA for 3 point %

Here are how the others ranked:
Utah - .380 - #1
Miami - .379 - #2
POR - .377 - #3
SAS - .376 - #4
TOR - .374 - #5
LAC - .371 - #6
NOP - .370 - #7 - a surprise
PHI - .368 - #8 - that surprised me too
Was - .368 - #8
Det - .367 - #10 - another surprise
Dal - .367 - #10 - Luka shot only .316 - now that's a surprise
SAC - .364 - #12
BOS - .364 - #13
IND - .363
DEN - .359
PHO - .358
MIL - .355
OKC - .355
CHO - .352 - TRo shot .407 ...now that is impressive
CLE - .351
LAL - .349 - wow, that low?
CHI - .348
MEM - .347
HOU - .345 - double wow. That low? Harden only shot .355!!!!
BRK - .343
ORL b- .343
NYK - .337 - at least they are not in the cellar
MIN - .336
GSW - .334 - IMAGINE! Next year they will probably be #1 again.
ATL - .333 - Trae Young shot .361

Side note: Luka scored 7.0 ppg this year off free throws, Jayson 3.8, and Jaylen 3.1.
Getting to the line really pads your stats.

[worcester]

Bob, No, I already took out the 0-25 for Grant. Altogether he was 24/96.

[cowens/oldschool]

Db,
Too late. The count should've started from game 1.
As for Simmons, he can be the best defensive player in the history of NBA but if you can't score from more than 5 feet you can't be a star.
Also, he's had 4 years to learn how to shoot...

AK

....and he still can’t shoot, Rondo was/is a better shooter than him.

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