Playoff. VJ. Edgecombe.
The Sixers shocked the Boston Celtics with a 111-97 win in Game 2 Tuesday night, tying the series at 1-1.
Tyrese Maxey had a much easier go of it, putting up 29 points and nine assists shooting 11-of-28 from the floor. Edgecombe had his playoff coming out party, having a team-high 30 points, shooting 12-of-20 from the floor along with 10 rebounds.
Paul George importantly got off to a great start, going for 19 on 7-of-13 shooting. Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 36.
Joel Embiid (appendectomy surgery recovery) remained the only player unable to suit up due to injury.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- The process of these teams was on display early, with the Celtics knocking down two quick threes while PG slowly backed down his defender for a midrange pull-up on the Sixers’ first two possessions. There were plenty of fireworks early as Brown was called for a technical foul for how hard he dunked on Adem Bona. Even with that, the Sixers started the game as well as possible, making six of their first eight field goal attempts.
- Making a three-pointer was the only thing the Sixers didn’t do in their good start. The Celtics made five early as they ripped off a 16-0 run in response. During this stretch, Edgecombe landed hard on his lower back and legs. He gingerly limped back for a brief trip to the locker room before returning to the game in the second.
- The run was finally ended with a Maxey pull-up three. The Sixers would surrender an offensive rebound on the ensuing possession, but Maxey had the best box out by a Sixer in years to secure the rebound on the second attempt. Andre Drummond was able to putback a miss, Quentin Grimes made his first three of the night, and a Maxey pick-six made it a 10-0 Sixers run in response. George was able to put back a missed Grimes’ floater to pull the Sixers within three after the first.
Second Quarter
- Personnel is a big reason for their rebounding struggles, but it’s astonishing how unprepared the Sixers look for long rebounds. Payton Pritchard pulled down the Celtics’ sixth offensive board of the night just two possessions into the quarter. The minutes with Maxey on the bench got off to a rough start, but Drummond poking away a steal turned that around as they followed up with back-to-back threes from Grimes and George. Grimes blocking a Pritchard three from behind was a big stop in this stretch.
- The Sixers kept this play going out of Boston’s timeout as well. A three and another putback from Drummond briefly put them back in front. Edgecombe returned to the game and hit a pull-up, then grabbed an offensive board. A negative worth monitoring though was Jayson Tatum being able to bait George into his third foul of the night.
- Despite turning it over immediately after pulling down an impressive offensive rebound, Edgecombe continued to look really good coming back from the fall. He was finally able to knock down some threes, hitting four in the half, and threw down a transition dunk in a crowd of defenders. As a team the Sixers were rewarded for their hustle. Kelly Oubre Jr. missed the free throw to convert an and-1, but Dominick Barlow fought to grab the offensive rebound that led to another Edgecombe three.
- The Sixers still struggled to keep the Celtics off the offensive glass, but they were able to hold the Celtics without a field goal for the final 2:05 of the half. Barlow took an inadvertent elbow to the face on Brown’s last shot, but replay upheld that no foul occurred and the Sixers took an eight-point lead into the break.
Third Quarter
- George drilling a pull-up three was a great start to the second half, as was Boston’s field goal drought continuing. It took the Celtics two and a half minutes into the third to snap the drought. The bad news for Philly was Edgecombe re-aggravating his injury and going back to the locker room two minutes into the half.
- Brown getting to the rim did get both of the Jays going. Brown easily drove to the basket again, as did Tatum, before Brown hit a pair of threes. Oubre finally hit his first three of the series, then drove for a couple of layups himself to keep the Celtics at arms’ length.
- Regression to the mean hit George the hardest. He airballed a couple of threes and threw a bad turnover as the Celtics slowly nibbled away. Thanks to Maxey and Oubre flying around the perimeter the Sixers were able to force a big shot clock violation, especially since Edgecombe came right down the floor and nailed a three (A result of the Sixers finally putting Nik Vucevic in an action in space, no less). Edgecombe got to the basket two more times coming out of a timeout to keep the Sixers’ lead at seven going into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
- White drilling a three off the catch and Pritchard beating Adem Bona off the dribble for a bucket made things hairy quick. Justin Edwards responding with a three is just what the Sixers needed. PG chipped in with a midrange and a trip to the line. Edwards’ night had felt more quiet than his Game 1 performance, but his four rebounds and swat on a Brown jumper were huge.
- Open misses continued to haunt the Sixers. Two open threes clanked off, then Bona missed a layup before five points from the Jays made it a one-score game again. Maxey had really cooled off but picked a good time to nail a pair of threes to force a Celtics timeout. Edgecombe made a great read to pick off a pass coming out of the timeout and Maxey drew an offensive foul, helping the Sixers respond with five points of their own.
- Brown pulled up trying to draw a foul on a three. While he didn’t get the call, the three falling was a big shot for Boston. Edgecombe was able to respond with another one of his own, then Maxey wove his way to the basket for an acrobatic layup that turned into an and-1. Brown was able to hit another tough three a few possessions later, but Joe Mazzulla had already sent the end of his bench to the scorer’s table to call it for the night. The conclusive victory the Sixers pulled off prompted a tweet from their most online player.
