Boston Celtics: 5 keys to series vs. 76ers

5. Speed

What the Philadelphia 76ers possess in length, they sacrifice in speed. In the first quarter of Game 5 against the Miami Heat, the 76ers subbed out J.J. Redick and Joel Embiid for Marco Belinelli and Amir Johnson, before adding Ersan Ilyasova soon after.

The Celtics, lacking Daniel Theis, don’t have nearly as much height of their own to counter with. Instead, they’ll have to rely on drive-and-kick offense to move Philly’s lumbering forwards around to find the seams of their defense.

Most of the layups the Celtics tried to sneak past Thon Maker were emphatically denied. Now, imagine Embiid trailing Jayson Tatum on his way to the rim instead of Maker. Not ideal. Speed is going to be key in this tough second round matchup.