Boston Celtics: 5 keys to series vs. 76ers

The war-torn Boston Celtics are staring down the barrel of The Process in the second round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs.

The Boston Celtics hobble into the second round to face the Philadelphia 76ers, who dispatched the Miami Heat in five games.

Once thought to be a team that would struggle to win 40 games, the 76ers roll into the second round as a dark horse contender to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. Their young stars are everything they could have asked for, while the role players do their jobs diligently.

I dislike player comparisons, but I can’t resist hopping on the bandwagon with this one: Ben Simmons is the second coming of Magic Johnson. Joel Embiid is every great center molded into a mountain. In the past six months, J.J. Redick has turned himself into Ray Allen.

The Celtics will counter The Process with a few stars-in-the-making of their own. With Jaylen Brown starting the series out of the lineup with a hamstring injury, the spotlight rests on Jayson Tatum, who the Celtics traded down from the No. 1 spot to select.

Alongside him is Marcus Smart (starting in place of Brown), the longest-tenured Celtic, and the backbone of the best defense in the NBA. Former 16th pick Terry Rozier has become one of the Celtics most dazzling players in the absence of Kyrie Irving.

Bearing all this in mind, here are five keys to winning the series.