Celtics hold off furious 76ers run, win third straight: Takeaways

Jaylen Brown and the Celtics almost let one other winnable recreation in opposition to the 76ers slip away, however they held on late and claimed their third straight victory with a 109-108 win, bettering to .500 for the primary time this season and 1-0 within the NBA Cup’s Group B play.

Listed below are the takeaways.

That was shut.

The previous couple of breathless seconds of Friday’s recreation had an uncomfortable sense of inevitability to them.

With the Celtics up by eight and 1:30 remaining, a 76ers workforce that appears to have embodied the By no means Give Up spirit of Tyrese Maxey this season as a substitute of the They At all times Beat Us spirit of Joel Embiid started to chip away, and destiny began to tip of their favor.

After all Maxey buried an enormous 3-pointer.

After all Derrick White, who struggled enormously as soon as once more, missed a makeable floater on the subsequent possession.

Naturally, V.J. Edgecombe – who in any other case had a a lot quieter recreation than his roaring debut within the season opener – canned a 3-pointer that reduce the result in two with 51 seconds left.

Jaylen Brown then drew a foul, and – in fact – he missed one in all his two free throws, leaving the door open for the Sixers, who – as one would count on – reduce the result in one on a driving end by Maxey.

The wheels then got here off in earnest for the Celtics, who couldn’t get the ball inbounds and over the half-court line in time, and Brown’s determined try to take action resulted in an offensive foul, which felt like it will inevitably result in the go-ahead bucket.

The chaos wasn’t completed – Maxey missed a troublesome layup, and Josh Minott obtained the rebound solely to overlook each free throws, opening the door for the Sixers as soon as extra with three seconds left.

Lastly, nonetheless, the Celtics appeared to get their defensive legs below themselves. They stored the ball out of Maxey’s arms on the ultimate possession, and the Sixers had been compelled to inbound to Quentin Grimes. Grimes took too lengthy and handed to Embiid, who hoisted a 3-pointer after the buzzer sounded and missed badly because the Celtics escaped with a win they deserved however very almost frittered away.

Jaylen Brown because the 1A famous person has been unbelievable.

Earlier than the sport was dragged via the muck within the second half, Brown put collectively one other masterclass. He managed the tempo of the sport offensively within the first half seemingly effortlessly, getting no matter he needed inside and out of doors the arc. The Sixers by no means had a superb reply for Jayson Tatum, they usually don’t actually have something for Brown both now that he’s enjoying Tatum’s position.

Brown completed with 32 factors on 13-for-19 taking pictures and made 4 of his seven photographs. His 5 turnovers had been lower than best, however his six assists had been the product of a participant who had his arms on a whole lot of what went proper because the Celtics constructed their lead.

The Celtics are enjoyable once they have a rhythm.

When the Celtics can get out in transition, they’re an extremely aesthetically pleasing workforce to look at.

A part of the reason being the hassle – the Celtics at their finest are a scrappy group that performs extremely quick and is completely satisfied to have any participant push the tempo. They will get to the rim, they will spray the ball across the perimeter to generate threes, and – as they proved all through a lot of the primary quarter – they will knock down open mid-range jumpers. When Anfernee Simons will get going, the offense turns into actually tough to cease, particularly in tandem with Brown’s early-season brilliance.

The issue, in fact, is that it’s very tough to keep up a free-flowing tempo over the course of a whole recreation, particularly in opposition to a workforce just like the Sixers that may grift their solution to the free-throw line. Because the Sixers made a 32-8 run to tie the sport late within the second quarter and deep into the third, they discovered themselves on the free-throw line again and again – by the top of the third quarter, the Sixers had a 26-8 benefit on free-throws tried.

Basically, the Celtics performed 20 minutes of their finest basketball of the season early and spent the remainder of the sport clinging to it. In the end, they had been profitable, and over the previous few video games, we’ve gotten a genuinely encouraging take a look at what the Celtics might be at their finest. They gained’t be excellent, however once they can stand up and down the ground, they’re harmful.

Hugo González threw himself all around the ground.

Happily for González, 19-year-olds are notoriously fast at bouncing again from aches and pains. That’s necessary, as a result of González performed Friday’s recreation with out an iota of regard for his private well being and security.

Possibly González’s most painful-looking collision occurred between himself and the basket stanchion – within the closing seconds of the third quarter, Anfernee Simons tried to perform a little an excessive amount of (not for the final time), and the Sixers obtained a breakaway. Quentin Grimes flew up the ground and tried a one-handed dunk, however González swooped in and dedicated a foul, slamming himself into the basket. Grimes hit each free throws, however the effort by González was notable. The rookie additionally dove for a unfastened ball, flew via the air to create a lot of second-chance alternatives, and took a shot from a flailing Embiid to the midsection which the officers referred to as a foul on him as a substitute of a flop by Embiid.

González sat down with 5 factors, 5 rebounds (three of which had been offensive) and 5 fouls in his quarter-hour of motion. The hassle is unquestionable, even when the polish isn’t solely there but.

Anfernee Simons tried to be extra aggressive (with combined outcomes).

Simons has had a pleasant begin to the season in Boston, however he gave the impression to be urgent on Friday, particularly within the second half.

Twice, Simons spent almost the complete shot clock making an attempt to assault Sixers defenders who finally compelled him into the paint the place Adem Bona swatted him on the rim. Late within the third quarter, Simons tried to do an excessive amount of and obtained ripped, which led to the aforementioned Grimes breakaway and González’s try to impale himself on the stanchion.

Chatting with reporters afterward, Simons stated Celtics coaches have begged him to be extra aggressive. He definitely was on Friday, and when he’s on, the Celtics’ offense is admittedly tough to cease – Simons’ three-level scoring is an enormous asset on a workforce with a number of different three-level scorers, and his microwave 3-point taking pictures alongside Sam Hauser’s microwave potential can result in exponential runs (Simons was a team-high +23 within the field rating and was essential because the Celtics constructed their lead).

Nonetheless, discovering the steadiness between urgent and being aggressive appears to be the subsequent massive precedence for Simons.

Derrick White and Payton Pritchard are nonetheless struggling.

White hit a pair of spot-up 3-pointers within the second half, however he nonetheless completed 2-for-7 from deep and 6-for-16 total – persevering with his struggles as he tries to shoulder extra duty. To date, he merely doesn’t look as comfy taking pictures with extra defensive strain and extra ball-handling tasks.

The answer nonetheless might merely be endurance – give White an opportunity to rise to the event, like he has executed so many instances beforehand in Boston.

Pritchard, in the meantime, got here up together with his personal resolution for a 3-point droop: He began taking pictures nearer to the basket. He made the Celtics’ first three photographs and 4 of their first six all contained in the arc, ending 6-for-8 from two and simply 1-for-9 from three.

It’s laborious to not marvel what would possibly occur if Pritchard and White escape on the identical time.

Joel Embiid nonetheless seemed fairly dangerous.

Embiid seemed higher than he did in the course of the season opener when he gave the impression to be actively making the Sixers worse, however he’s nonetheless removed from the dominant power the Celtics have confronted and so successfully restricted previously. He settles for jumpers far too typically, seemingly largely as a result of he isn’t wholesome sufficient to get into the paint, and whereas grifting foul photographs has all the time been an enormous a part of his recreation, he wanted his 7-for-7 efficiency to get to twenty factors much more than ordinary. On the defensive finish, the Celtics weren’t afraid to assault him both on the perimeter and even when he was making an attempt to guard the rim.

The Celtics equaled the Sixers in rebounding.

The Celtics and Sixers each completed with 56 rebounds in whole, and the Celtics grabbed extra offensive boards than Philly – 16-9 as González, Minott and Hauser snagged three apiece.

Mazzulla’s mitigation methods appear to be having an influence, though an enormous take a look at is on the horizon.

Subsequent Up

The Celtics will now head residence to face a Rockets workforce on Saturday that, on paper, has sufficient dimension to seize nearly each obtainable rebound, however they’re catching the Celtics at a time once they appear to be figuring themselves out.

Subsequent week, the schedule eases a bit with video games in opposition to the Jazz and Wizards on Monday and Wednesday respectively.