Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. 76ers

The Boston Celtics earned a convincing Game 1 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers in their second round series of the 2018 NBA Playoffs. Here are three takeaways from the game.

Coming off a gentleman’s sweep of the Miami Heat in the first round, the Philadelphia 76ers were arguably the hottest team in the NBA. They had won 20 of their last 21 games, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid weren’t bothered by the spotlight in their first playoff series, and their depth, defense and 3-point shooting made them a dark horse to win the Eastern Conference.

In Game 1 of their second round playoff series against the Boston Celtics, the Sixers learned a lesson the rest of the league has spent all season discovering: This resilient team can beat you on any given night no matter who’s in uniform.

Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis have been recurring presences on the injury report for awhile now, but with Jaylen Brown sidelined by a hamstring injury, there was doubt as to how the Celtics could keep up with the Sixers’ offense, let alone score on the NBA’s third-ranked defense.

Brad Stevens and company buried those doubts under an avalanche of 3-pointers Monday night, with Terry Rozier‘s new playoff career high being the first snowball. Danny Ainge‘s pride and joy led the way with 29 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals, shooting 11-for-18 from the floor and 7-for-9 from downtown.

Jayson Tatum followed up with a postseason career-high of his own, dropping 28 points on 8-of-16 shooting, while Al Horford knocked down 10 of his 12 shots to finish with 26. The Sixers were led by Embiid’s playoff career-high 31 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, plus 20 from J.J. Redick, but Simmons struggled against the league’s top-ranked defense and so did the rest of the supporting cast.

The question is, what trends from Monday night’s 117-101 beatdown are sustainable? To sort it all out, here are three takeaways from Game 1.