Philadelphia 76ers: 3 takeaways from important win over Boston Celtics
3. The Celtics still have favorable matchups
In victory, the Sixers proved they can beat the Celtics. That doesn’t mean Boston is a favorable matchup. The Celtics still have several advantageous individual (and team-wide) matchups that can be exploited with regularity.
Al Horford remains one of the NBA’s most underrated players, and he kicks it up a notch against Philadelphia. He’s physical enough to handle Embiid, versatility enough to defend Simmons, and stretchy enough to wreak havoc on offense.
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Even without elite-level flash, Horford’s unique combination of shooting, passing and mobility make him a dynamic offensive player. He bends the Sixers’ defense, forcing Embiid outside the paint and punishing smaller players at the rim. He’s very, very good.
The Celtics still hold a clear advantage in bench depth as well. The Sixers need to get solid production from Mike Scott and James Ennis, which wasn’t the case on Wednesday. It was also proven that Boban Marjanovic can’t touch the floor against the Celtics, especially in the postseason.
Neither Boban, Jonah Bolden nor Amir Johnson have put together credible cases for playoff minutes at this stage in the season. Relying on Scott, who is struggling in his own right, as the small-ball five is probably Brett Brown’s best bet.
The Sixers also experienced their typical ‘Celtics player who only gets hot against the Sixers’ moment with Terry Rozier dropping 20 points on .500 shooting. It’s also worth noting Marcus Smart was unable to play (and therefore defend) down the stretch after getting ejected in the third quarter.