Celtics-76ers Split
- The Philadelphia 76ers evened their first-round series with Boston at 1-1 after a 111-97 Game 2 win. - Jaylen Brown scored 36 points while Tyrese Maxey and 'VJ' combined for 59 points for Philadelphia. - The result forces renewed tactical questions about matchups and depth, captured in highlight packages and analysis (youtube.com) (x.com).
Philadelphia walked out of Boston with a 111-97 win in Game 2 on Tuesday, tying the first-round series with the Celtics at 1-1. (nba.com) V.J. Edgecombe scored 30 points with 10 rebounds, and Tyrese Maxey added 29 points and nine assists at TD Garden. Jaylen Brown kept Boston afloat with 36 points, while Jayson Tatum finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. (espn.com) Philadelphia flipped the game with shooting and a late run. The 76ers made 19 of 39 from 3-point range, and an 11-0 burst turned a 91-89 game into a 102-89 lead with a little more than four minutes left. (nba.com) The split changed the shape of the series after Boston’s 123-91 win in Game 1 on April 19. Instead of heading to Philadelphia up 2-0, the Celtics now go on the road with the series even and Games 3 and 4 set for April 24 and April 26. (nba.com) The matchup is also being played on uneven rosters. Philadelphia was again without Joel Embiid in Game 2 as he continued strength and conditioning work after an April 9 appendectomy, leaving Maxey, Edgecombe and Paul George to carry more of the offense. (espn.com) Boston’s problem in Game 2 was not Brown’s scoring as much as everything around it. The Celtics shot 39.3% from the field, went 13-for-47 from 3-point range, and committed 13 turnovers that led to 16 Philadelphia points. (espn.com) Edgecombe’s night added a bigger subplot to the series. According to ESPN’s recap, he became the first rookie since Tim Duncan on May 5, 1998 to post at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in a playoff game, and NBA.com said he joined Magic Johnson as the only players to do that before turning 21. (espn.com) (nba.com) Brown said Boston let the rookie get too comfortable, and Nick Nurse said he has been telling Edgecombe and Maxey to stay aggressive and keep shooting. Those are the two pressures carrying into Game 3: whether Boston can disrupt Philadelphia’s guards, and whether Philadelphia can repeat this without Embiid. (espn.com) Game 3 is Friday night in Philadelphia, with the series back where it started: one win each, and no cushion left from Boston’s opener. (nba.com)
