Post Game - Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers - Tuesday, February 27 (W)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585464

Sorry I missed this game, I was scuba diving with Hammerhead sharks.

I don't think we should take too much away from the other than the most welcome 'W' because Embiid didn't play.

5-22 from 3?  Tatum 1-7?

The flip side of shooting 22.7% from 3 is that we shot 34-52 (65%) from 2.

Interesting that Kornet got minutes and Tillman didn't, but Springer got a few.


Souichi Terada @SouichiTerada
about 11 minutes ago
Joe Mazzulla: "This is one of our best games of the year." Says the Sixers guarded them to take away 3s, so they had to win in a different way tonight.


74 fgas stinks.  Philly had 94.  It worked this time.


This 18 point win increases our MoV to +10.5, which is almost certainly better than 2008's.

We have the 5th best offense as defined by points scored per game, and the 5th best defense as defined by points given up per game.


Bob


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Celtics-Sixers takeaways: Tatum, Brown dominate as C's extend win streak

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/celtics-sixers-takeaways-tatum-brown-032309906.html

Nick Goss
Tue, February 27, 2024 at 10:47 PM EST·5 min read




Celtics-Sixers takeaways: Tatum, Brown dominate as C's extend win streak originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

The Jays combine to score 60 points

C's overcome bad 3-point shooting

Boston's win streak reaches nine games

The Boston Celtics continued their dominance over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night, earning a 117-99 victory at TD Garden to extend their win streak to nine games.

Jaylen Brown led the C's with 31 points. He was one of three Boston starters, along with Jayson Tatum (29) and Kristaps Porzingis (23), who scored more than 20 points.

The Celtics led 53-51 at halftime and pushed their lead into double digits during the third quarter. The Sixers showed some resiliency in the fourth quarter, opening the frame with a 14-5 run and cutting Boston's lead to 91-89 with 8:09 remaining. The Celtics immediately took back the momentum with a 17-0 run that ended the Sixers' comeback hopes. With this result, Boston wins the season series 3-1 against Philly.

The Celtics will be back in action against Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden on Friday night.

Before we look ahead to that matchup, here are three takeaways from Celtics-Sixers.

The Jays dominate offensively

Jaylen Brown got the Celtics going early, which is something he's done consistently after the All-Star break.

Brown is averaging 19.3 points in the first half in the last three games. He poured in 18 points in the first half Tuesday night, which helped the C's overcome poor shooting over the first two quarters. Brown was particularly effective on the fast break.



Brown finished with a team-high 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting, along with six rebounds, one assist and one steal in 35 minutes. He also shot 8-of-10 from the free throw line.

Not only is Brown scoring at a high rate post All-Star break -- 27.3 points per game during this stretch -- he's doing it in an efficient manner. Brown is shooting 62 percent from the field and 43.7 percent from 3-point range in the last three games.

Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter as the Celtics put an end to the Sixers' comeback attempt.



He struggled from 3-point range (1-of-7) but converted 10 of his 11 free throw attempts. Tatum also tallied 11 rebounds and a team-high eight assists in 35 minutes.

Celtics find ways to score without 3-pointers

The Celtics average a league-leading 42.6 3-point shots per game. That's their identity offensively, and it's worked out quite well this season. They entered Tuesday with a 41-3 record this season when shooting above 32 percent from 3-point range.

The Celtics also have a tendency to struggle when the 3-pointers aren't falling. Tuesday's win was just their fifth when shooting 32 percent or worse from beyond the arc.

The Celtics were 2-of-11 from deep in the first half and finished 5-of-22.



Philly made an effort to take away 3-pointers, so Boston adjusted offensively and dominated inside, earning a 64-42 advantage in points in the paint. Sure, the absence of reigning MVP center Joel Embiid changes how well the Sixers defend in the paint, but you have to give the Celtics credit for their aggressiveness in attacking the basket. They understood the lack of a shot-blocking presence in the Philly defense and didn't settle for bad 3-pointers.

One good example came in the fourth quarter when Derrick White found Al Horford with a mismatch under the basket. Horford easily scored with Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey -- who's seven inches shorter -- unable to contest the shot. Boston stretched its lead to 97-89 as a result.

There will be games during the playoffs when 3-pointers aren't falling for the Cetlics. If the C's attack the paint in the same manner they did Tuesday during those games, they'll avoid some of the offensive issues that have plagued them in recent postseason runs.

C's maintain wide lead in East standings

The Celtics extended their win streak to nine games, which is the longest active streak in the league. It also ties the longest win streak by any team this season, matching the Orlando Magic. Boston's last loss was to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1.

The C's are scoring 123.8 points per game during this win streak. They're also 21-0 at home versus Eastern Conference opponents this season. The Celtics, who own a league-best 46-12 record, are on pace to win 65 games, which they've accomplished only three times in their history, most recently in 2007-08 (66 wins).

Boston's lead atop the Eastern Conference is still 7.5 games over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who defeated the Mavericks on a Max Strus buzzer-beater Tuesday night.



My note: Why can't we get players like that!!

The Celtics will play the Cavs for the third and final time in the regular season next Tuesday in Cleveland.

Here's what I saw.

1.  Every person calling our national games, every media talking head person, every opposing team homer ALL read from the same script.  "Boston shoots too many 3's."  "Can we make it in the playoffs if the 3-ball ain't falling?"  This is perfect because none of them are paying attention.  This game was an Exhibit A.  Yes, the 3-ball wasn't falling.  So what did we do? Keep shooting 3's 'til the cows came home and blow the game?  Well, that was last year's team.  This year's team shifted gears and simply rammed it down PHI's throat via the lane.  Plus you add Nick Nurse's cute throw it all against the wall, hoping something sticks, everything but the kitchen sink offensive and defensive game plan and you had a very interesting game last night.  

2.  Shots Attempted/FTA Imbalance.  When I first saw we shot 20 shots less than PHI, I couldn't believe it.  Then you see the huge, glaring FT discrepancy and that all makes sense.  We weren't getting shots because with all PHI's line-up changes, no one for PHI knew what they were doing or were out of position, so the first thing you do is reach and foul.  Good plan, Nick.  It worked for a while.  But this time we weren't missing our FT's.  

3.  Not worried about losing a (big) lead during the game.  Everyone is doing it, good teams, bad teams, great teams, crappy teams.  It's part of the game now.  Get used to it.  But every time for Boston this happens, we immediately bounce back.  I don't think we've lost a game this year by blowing a lead.  It's because it only takes a couple of 3's made by your opponent in succession plus a TO or two and you're right back in the game.  We had two runs.  3rd Quarter and the devastating 4th Quarter run.  The 3rd quarter started off impressive then dwindled leading into the 4th Quarter.

4.  Read between the lines - Coach Joe is slaying the competition.  The reason we shoot the most threes is for one we are typically very good at it.  Adding marksman KP plus sharpshooter DW and rock-steady Al  gives us plenty of reasons to feel confident launching the 3-ball.  But what everyone but CJ are missing is, this keeps your defense on its heels all the time.  I'm going to guess without looking that FGA's for 3's and 2's for us are right around 50% each.  Certain games like this where the 3-ball ain't falling, then you see a tilt to layups and some mild mid-range FGA.  Joe is analytically keeping our shot launch numbers near the 50%/50% range, producing the maximum scoring effect.  What you saw last night was PHI couldn't find their asses with both hands on defense.  They read the same scouting report about our "overabundance" of threes, we started driving and they started fouling.  Game over.  

5.  Someone please tell me Nick Nurse got fined in the post-game presser for going off about the FT discrepancy!!  Or even mentioned it.  If he did, he should be fired.  Per Eddie Murphy..."You brought that $%^($% on yourself!  Don't make me do it again!"

Get ready, Mavs.  You know how we like to follow up poor shooting 3-point game at home...

db

DB,

I like your take on the Shots Attempted/FTA Imbalance. It makes total sense.

Take it to the hoop!! The result is a high percentage shot or a trip to the charity stripe. Or both.

"Shots Attempted" + "Shots Attempted that result in fritos" = A better way to track offensive output (or volume?) than just "Shots Attempted"?

gyso,

Yeah, it's hard to have FGA's when you're getting fouled all the time! It doesn't count as a FGA when you're fouled and you miss. You'll also notice that we shot 37 FTA. PHI fouled 23 times. When that ratio is between 1.5-2.0, it means PHI was fouling us in the act through the first 4 fouls before the penalty. And 1's pull it down from 2.0, which in this case meant we would have taken 46 FT's with no And 1's. Anything greater than 1.5 to Boston implies your opponent really sucks on defense.

Make no mistake.  Joe Mazulla is the smartest, most manically obsessed with/about winning man in the room and he just unloads that on willing, able and open minded spirits like our starting 6 plus our bench.  I'm stressing less and less about a Finals matchup of Joe vs Ty if it were to occur.

We keep recognizing earlier and earlier when the 3's or the 2's aren't falling and shifting now within a couple of possessions.  Complete opposite of last year's team.  Missed strings of 3's meant to not only keep launching from 3-ville, but shooting even more 3's!!  

Last night was a barrage since Embiid was out and Nurse was wholesale changing his line ups at every turn.  This all boded well for us for anyone who wants to throw anything and everything at us be it zone (MIA), fresh legs, etc.  

db

Bob


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DB

I do not know if there could be a better Exhibit on how diverse this Celtics team is.  This games proved that the pathway to scoring a lot of points does not always have to be a barrage of 3 point shots.  To tell you the truth I was really caught off guard.  Last year, this team would have forced up a lot of bad shots when pressured on the perimeter.

I do not think this changes things.  The Celtics offense creates a ton of open looks on the perimeter.  But now they have shown the ability to score in the paint off of the bounce and off of post-ups.  This team will attack their opponents in multiple ways and are damn near impossible to contain.

dboss,

When KP is hitting those back down mismatches in the mid-range, that just adds another layer to Where's Kristaps?  He can dunk/layup, mid-range, shoot FT's out the yingyang, and bomb from 3-ville.  That's one impossible dude to nail down!!  JT has a similar range but his mid-range seems to be more from the baselines.  Those two alone are enough to reek havoc on most defenses we are going to see.

db

So we can and do drive.

A little change of strategy and nice movement off of those closeouts. Draw the reach-in foul and get to the line. Nothing like the sight of a 6'8" Tatum driving to the rim.

Joe had it in his strategy bag the whole time. Nice.