Boston Celtics overcome Joel Embiid, 76ers: 3 studs in Game 1 win
The Boston Celtics grabbed game one of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, here are three players who shined.
The theme of the Boston Celtics Game 1 victory over Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers Monday night in the NBA Orlando bubble was to just stick with it.
Led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics overcame a pretty subpar night offensively to outlast the 76ers in a 109-101 victory.
In combining for 61 points, the young duo of Brown and Tatum made history by becoming the first Celtics teammates aged 23 or younger to score 25 or more points in a playoff game and the team absolutely needed it.
With the 76ers without Ben Simmons, the focus of this playoff series was not letting Joel Embiid dominate the game. That is really the only way Philly can win this series unless Tobias Harris and Al Horford play to a super All-Star level. In this game Embiid got his with 26 points and 16 rebounds, but the Celtics didn’t allow him to completely dominate.
Instead, the 76ers had a hard time containing the Celtics big 4, especially Tatum and Brown.
Tatum, who scored 21 of his 32 points, made sure his team stayed in the game in the first half. Brown, who scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, showcased his All-star level of play in the game with some key shots that helped the Boston Celtics hold of the 76ers multiple comebacks in this game.
The Boston Celtics had the best players on the court
In a series in which Joel Embiid needs to be the best player on the court, there was no doubt who the best players on the court was on this night and they did it by sticking with it as a team. Overall, the Celtics didn’t execute flawlessly offensively, but they just kept plugging at it allowing their two young studs to take over at different points of the game.
Despite the super effort by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens knows his team won Game 1 without playing their best basketball, but won’t win the series if it continues, especially when it comes to giving up leads.
"“We need to keep going, no matter good or bad,” Stevens said following the game, via Celtics.com. “I’m really happy with the way we responded when we were down, but there were three or four times when we were up 10 or 11, and it got cut to three or four. We’ve got to be better in that.”"
In the Game 1 victory, the Celtics also got contributions out of Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward before he left the game with an ankle sprain. For the Sixers, Tobias Harris contributed with 15 points and 8 rebounds and old friend Al Horford added 6 points and 7 rebounds.
But, the night was about the Boston Celtics and here are the three studs of the game.