The Philadelphia 76ers trail 0-2 for the first time this postseason. They’ll need to make some adjustments as they return home to Philadelphia for Game 3.
The Philadelphia 76ers dropped another game to the Boston Celtics, 108-103, to go down 0-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs. Scrappy is one way to describe the Celtics after they trailed by as many as 22 points in the first quarter before storming back to take the lead in the second half.
The Celtics outscored the Sixers in the final three quarters (86-72) after trailing 31-22 after one frame. Philadelphia came out hot for much of the first half with J.J. Redick and Robert Covington carrying much of the scoring load. Redick had 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range in the first half. Covington put up 12 points, two steals and two blocks as well. Then things fell apart.
Part of the reason had to do with the performance of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Simmons looked like a rookie on Thursday night, putting up just three shots all game. Embiid did have 20 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, but his defense was awful. He turned in a plus/minus of -8.
The Sixers have some adjustments to make heading into Game 3 on Saturday. Here’s a look at three takeaways from their Game 2 performance against the Celtics.