The Sixer Sense
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Sixers needed timeout during 2nd quarter collapse in Game 2

By CHRISTIAN KLEMASH

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 16: Head Coach Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers during a timeout during the game against the Miami Heat in game two of round one of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 16, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Brett Brown
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 16: Head Coach Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers during a timeout during the game against the Miami Heat in game two of round one of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 16, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Brett Brown /
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Brett Brown’s coaching blunder cost the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2.

The whole city was waiting for it.  The Philadelphia 76ers were waiting for it.  The Celtics were waiting for it.  But it never happened.

What was Brett Brown thinking?

When my daughters were younger their mother implemented a disciplinary method for when they got overly rambunctious or misbehaved.  She’d simply make them sit on the step for a few minutes until they cooled down.

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I had no experience with timeouts growing up because my father’s imposing voice was usually all it took to make me and my brothers get in line.  The timeouts worked like a charm on my girls though, and after only a couple of of them, all we had to do was merely threaten them with a timeout and they’d be good.  “Do you want a timeout?” is all it took.

On Thursday night I wanted a timeout, and the Sixers needed a timeout, but Brett Brown never took one.  With 3:45 remaining in the first half, the Sixers were up by 19.  By halftime the Celtics had seized momentum and cut the lead to five at 56-51.  And Boston had taken control of the game, running in the open court and finishing with highlight-reel slam dunks, banging down open threes, and sending the TD Garden crowd into an overly-rambunctious frenzy.

They needed to be quieted.  The Sixers looked fatigued.  A timeout would have stopped the onslaught while the Sixers took a breather and regrouped.  Brown could have scripted a play, perhaps slowing things down and dumping the ball into Joel Embiid for an easy two or foul shots.  They could have regained their composure and possibly control of the game.

Would it have worked?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But it was the smart play, especially when you’re coaching a young team on enemy turf.  And really, it’s all you have as a coach to stop momentum.  Ask yourself if Brad Stevens would have a taken a timeout or two there.  You bet he would.

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But Brown never took one.  Why?  I’ll never know.  He can intellectualize it all he wants now, but in the moment, he blew it.

The Sixers lost the game in that stretch.  The Celtics’ confidence grew, unabated, until it was overflowing.  They outscored the Sixers by nine in the third to take the lead and held them off in the fourth to win Game 2 and go up 2-0 with the series headed back to Philly for Games 3 and 4.

Do I think the series is over?  No.  The Sixers are tough at home, and if they can get one win under their belt I think they’ll be fine.  But the Celtics now have a stranglehold.  Game 3 is a must-win.

The numbers are daunting.  Teams up 2-0 in a best-of-seven series are 278-19 in NBA playoff history.  Think that’s rough?  Teams that go up 3-0 are undefeated.  I’ll bet if Brown knew those numbers on Thursday, he might’ve changed his mind about that timeout.

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If the Sixers end up losing this series, that momentum swing in Game 2 will be as responsible for it as anything.  And so will Brown’s choice not to send Boston to the bench for a few minutes to cool down.