Why the Celtics have been the better team
The Boston Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 101-98 in overtime to take a commanding 3-0 series lead in the conference semis.
Three down and one game to go for Boston to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. It is pointless to spend time and negative energy reliving all the coaching and player mistakes made in this pivotal Game 3.
Instead let’s discuss why Boston has been the better team this series and probably going forward. As a Philadelphia 76ers fan it hurts me to write this, but burying my head in the sand and refusing to face facts is a worse option.
GENERAL MANAGER/PLAYER PERSONNEL
It’s easy to discuss Danny Ainge getting the best of Bryan Colangelo on the draft pick swap, however Boston’s advantage on evaluating players goes much deeper than that. Danny Ainge is a very astute general manager than knows when to acquire and dump players.
Boston reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season and still overhauled their roster. The only other team with that type of player turnover would be Philly when they were in full tank mode. Boston flips their roster and even with their two best players out for the season will again reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
Boston covets higher I.Q. players that are physically and mentally tough and can create their own shot in a one-on-one situation. Forget Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, who are both out with injuries. Boston’s current roster includes Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier, Al Horford, Marcus Morris and Jaylen Brown. All five players can create their own shot when the shot clock is running down.
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Philadelphia on the other hand only has Joel Embiid and sometimes Dario Saric who can be considered shot creators. The only other player that can create his own shot is Markelle Fultz, who is currently not playing as a coaches decision.
Every other Philly player requires a screen and movement to get an open shot. As Philadelphia is finding out in the playoffs the defensive intensity picks up and makes it harder to get open shot attempts.
COACHING
I don’t think anyone can argue against the fact that Brad Stevens is an excellent coach. What Brad Stevens does so well is that he adjusts to both individual and team situations. His offensive sets are a combination of passing and giving enough spacing on sets to allow players to drive or kick back to an open three-point shooter.
Philadelphia runs their ball movement offense, which Boston has disrupted. When the shot clock is close to expiring, Philadelphia in many cases is scrambling to get a good shot. What Philadelphia is finding out is that their share-the-ball pass offense is fine for the regular season, however come playoff time they also must rely on players to create and make their own shots.
PLAYERS
Philadelphia has had no answer for Jayson Tatum. Al Horford and Aron Baynes have defended Joel Embiid well enough, and Boston has won every other match-up to take a 3-0 series lead.
Unfortunately for Philadelphia, the star process players are taking their lumps in this series with bad decisions and turnovers at unfortunate times. The role players are what they are. This team need both Simmons and Embiid to play well and at least two role players to step up, which has not happened in the first three games.
ADJUSTMENTS
First Robert Covington is killing the 76ers. Forget the fact that he isn’t shooting well, his staple is defense and he cannot defend or even stay in front of either Rozier or Tatum. T.J. McConnell covers Rozier better than Covington does when they are matched up.
Add to the fact that Boston gets away with Rozier covering Covington. Covington will not go into the low post to exploit that match-up, which allows Boston to place better defenders on Saric, Redick and Simmons. Covington should be on a very short lease for Game 4.
Second, run some pick-and-rolls at the top of the key using either Redick or Embiid as screeners for Simmons in an attempt some switching action with Embiid rolling to the basket or Redick/Belinelli rolling out to the three-point line.
Third, dust off Markelle Fultz. Philadelphia has lost three straight games using the same lineup and rotations. T.J. McConnell is not the answer. At least put a player on the floor that can possibly create his own shot. Give him some of Covington’s minutes.
Fourth, trap more. The few times the 76ers trap out front, they generate turnovers. Also trapping more in a half court set will help speed up the tempo, which should be to Philly’s advantage.
Fifth, a little prayer couldn’t hurt.
NEXT GAME: Monday in Philly