Three takeaways from the Boston Celtics 116-95 win over the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday night at TD Garden.
The Boston Celtics finally got one against the Philadelphia 76ers this season and they did it in dominant fashion.
With no Kemba Walker and Enes Kanter for this fourth and final regular-season matchup against Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and the Sixers, it seemed unlikely that the Celtics would finally get a win over their Atlantic Division rivals, but like they have done over and over again this season, their depth really stepped up and shined in the 116-95 victory.
Led by Jaylen Brown (32 points) and Jaylen Tatum (25 points), the Celtics not only figured out the 76ers, but dominated them by really doing it on defense.
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Despite the team’s glaring need to find a big man who can muscle Embiid, the Celtics solved the big man for at least one game with a swarming defensive effort that basically kept Embiid from dominating like he typically does.
In leading by 10 going into the third quarter, the Celtics turned up the defensive intensity by holding the 76ers without a field goal for the first 6:32 of the half and got it done offensively to extend their lead to 18 points.
There was no looking back after the C’s went up by as many as 22. With a couple of big performances off the bench by Brad Wanamaker and Semi Ojeleye, the Boston Celtics proved depth is their biggest weapon moving forward and into the NBA playoffs.
Here are three takeaways from the Boston Celtics dominant win over the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday night at TD Garden.
Not missing Kemba
The reason the Boston Celtics can afford to go nights without an All-Star caliber player like Kemba Walker is that they have other All-Star caliber players who can pick up the slack like Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward.
They also have undervalued role players like Brad Wanamaker who is capable of delivering the type of solid minutes he delivered in Saturday night’s victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
With a season-high 15 points, Wanamaker not only provided a boost for the Boston Celtics offensively, but he brought some aggressiveness to the floor with a dunk over the 7-foot Joel Embiid.
Mind you, Brad Wanamaker is all of 6-foot-3.
Take a look at this:
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1223791843751550976
But, it’s not about dunking over a player like Embiid that has Boston Celtics fans hyped, it is the overall solid contribution of Wanamaker all season long as highlighted by head coach Brad Stevens.
"“Brad’s been very good all year,” Stevens said following the game, via Celtics.com. “Obviously 15 points off the bench is something that, with Kemba out at that position especially, we needed badly. He did a good job. When they went on their runs in the first, he hit some shots to keep us ahead, and then I thought he made some really aggressive plays tonight.”"
With his performance, Brad Wanamaker give the Celtics some much-need minutes off the bench and provided some energy that sparked the team’s blowout victory.
Don’t get in the way of Tatum
Brad Wanamaker wasn’t the only Boston Celtics player not named Jaylen Brown dunking over people.
In contributing 25 points in the beatdown of the Philadelphia 76ers, All-Star Jayson Tatum welcomed former Celtics big man Al Horford back to TD Garden with this rim shaker that erupted the TD Garden crowd:
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1223787338452463619
That dunk came while the team was in the midst of a 15-2 run that really established their dominance in that first quarter.
Again, without Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward struggling a bit from the field to start the game, it was important for Jayson Tatum to show his All-Star leadership by scoring in many different ways.
It was his ability to score from anywhere on the court along with his aggressive nature that really set up that drive to the hoop to dunk over old friend Al Horford, who received some boos from the hometown crowd after dissing the Celtics to don the rival uniform of the Philadelphia 76ers.
As Jayson Tatum displayed with his dunk, take that Horford!
Oh Jaylen!
If you think Jaylen Brown is not going to take being snubbed from the NBA All-Star team personally, well, you don’t know Jaylen Brown.
The highly motivated Brown showed off his All-Star skills on Saturday night by leading the team with 32 points in 36 minutes.
With a plus-29 for the night, Jaylen really did it all for the Boston Celtics Saturday night. With nine rebounds, he battled on the boards and contributed in the team’s swarming defense that held the Philadelphia 76ers without a field goal for 6-plus minutes in that third quarter.
But this was really about the offense of Jaylen Brown. He shot 12-for-13 from inside the arc and if it wasn’t for a 1-for-10 performance, Brown would’ve scored well over 40 points.
NBA are you taking notice?
If not, take a look at Brown’s ability to create his own shot from anywhere on the court:
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1223800473209032706
As far as his NBA All-Star Game snub?
Brown is onto the playoffs.
"“Ain’t no reason to cry over spilled milk,” Brown said following the game, via Celtics.com. “Getting ready to head into the playoffs is what my mind is on right now.”"
That’s it Jaylen Brown, make your statement on the court and Boston Celtics fans will certainly take it.