Boston Celtics: 3 keys to victory against the Philadelphia 76ers

2. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown getting hot

With the shape that both teams are in going into this series, it might just take one of Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown getting hot for the Celtics to advance. Tatum and Brown have been hot for the majority of the season and are turning into stars for this storied Celtics franchise. There’s no doubt that they both have tremendous futures in Boston, but they’re also ready to make a big impact in crunch time right now.

Tatum is fastly becoming the Celtics’ franchise player, having averaged 23.4 points per game in the regular season with a 58.3 true shooting percentage. Brown averaged 20.3 points per game with an identical true shooting percentage to his teammate. This shows that they’re both the real deal and will be too much for the Sixers. They can go off together or on separate nights, but it’ll take just one of the two having a big game on any given night in this series.

Philly’s defense doesn’t have the weapons to deal with Boston’s stars efficiently enough to take this series the distance. Without Simmons, they don’t have the elite perimeter defense to match Tatum or Brown’s offensive capabilities, especially when there’s Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, and plenty more to deal with at the same time.

Josh Richardson will have a big role defending the perimeter. Standout first-year defender Matisse Thybulle will likely get minutes and plenty to deal with as well.

It’s a tough matchup for the Sixers, but if you have a Tatum or Brown who can’t miss, it’s going to get a whole lot tougher to stay competitive in this series.