1. Playoff Jayson Tatum Is Again
The final time Jayson Tatum performed within the playoffs was Might twelfth 2025. He dropped 42 factors, 8 rebounds and 4 assists earlier than he suffered what is called one of many worst accidents a basketball participant might maintain in a Torn Achilles. It was solely 342 days later the place Tatum was again taking part in in a playoff sport and it appears to be like like he hasn’t skipped a beat, ending with 25 factors, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and a pair of steals on 9-17 taking pictures.
Jayson Tatum is now fifth in Jap Convention historical past in 25-point playoff video games with solely LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Larry Chook, and Dwayne Wade having extra. Tatum joined Jimmy Butler in 2022 and Russell Westbrook in 2017 because the third participant in NBA Playoff Historical past with 21+ Factors, 8+ Rebounds, 4+ Assists, and a pair of+ Steals within the first half of a playoff sport within the final 30 years.
Tatum performed most of his greatest basketball within the first half of this sport, ending with 21 factors, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists on 7-11 taking pictures. Tatum had 10 of these factors within the first quarter, the place he exploited the actual fact the 76ers didn’t have a wing defender that might guard him. He was capable of slice by means of Philly’s protection like a cheese steak to get to straightforward buckets within the midrange and a few aggressive finishes on the basket.
Tatum did a terrific job of attending to the road within the second quarter, ending 6-6 on the charity stripe. Philadelphia didn’t have any solutions for him and you may inform they had been pissed off. He was 1-7 from three on this sport however that one he hit made him cross Kobe Bryant for eleventh place on the all-time playoff three-pointers made checklist. Tatum put an exclamation level on his unbelievable first half efficiency with an emphatic slam off a Sam Hauser steal.
Tatum solely performed in 12 minutes the remainder of the sport however his first half efficiency stamped his impression on this win. He was serenaded with a standing ovation from the TD Backyard crowd within the fourth quarter, being proven the respect he deserved for his nice sport.
Jaylen Brown began sport this sport somewhat gradual with solely 10 factors on 4-12 taking pictures within the first half however actually stepped up his sport within the third quarter. Brown performed your entire third quarter and completed with 16 factors on 7-9 taking pictures from the sphere and 2-2 from three. The play that basically ignited his hearth within the quarter got here on the 6:24 mark the place he deflected an errant cross by Andre Drummond and turned it into a large open three pointer.
This three sparked a 10-0 run by the Celtics that took any doable probability the 76ers had of coming again on this sport. Brown shot 5-6 after his steal, twisting the knife even deeper into Philadelphia’s protection. Irrespective of who Philly threw on the market to defend him, Brown was in a position break them down and end in his spots.
This sport was the fiftieth time that each Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum scored 20+ factors in the identical playoff sport, the second most in Celtics historical past solely behind Larry Chook and Kevin McHale who did it 58 occasions. It’s the nineteenth time that Brown and Tatum have each scored 25+ in the identical playoff sport. If Sport 1 was any indication of how these playoffs are going to go, we might see the Jays breaking that report this season.
For the primary time in his NBA Profession, Sam Hauser shot beneath 40% from three in a season, ending at 39.3% with the Celtics this season. He appeared to take that personally going into Sport 1 the place completed with 12 factors and seven rebounds on 4-6 taking pictures from behind the arc. He began the sport off scorching, hitting back-to-back threes within the first quarter and set the tone for the Celtics offense.
He hit two extra threes within the fourth quarter however what actually spectacular from Hauser was his defensive effort on this sport. By way of Taylor Snow on X, Sam Hauser performed 1,934 minutes within the common season and drew 0 expenses however 2 minutes into the playoffs he drew a cost on Adem Bona who barreled proper by means of him. When requested about taking the cost, Hauser laughed and stated, “I used to be scared” however he was simply attempting to make a play.
Hauser made one other nice defensive play within the second quarter, selecting off an inbounds cross and discovering Jayson Tatum the opposite approach for a large open dunk. After struggling for a lot of the season, this was a terrific begin what hopefully is an enormous playoff run for Hauser this season.
4. Jordan Walsh Power Minutes
Jordan Walsh performed some huge minutes for the Celtics down the stretch of the common season and obtained his first probability to indicate out within the playoffs, ending with 5 factors, 2 rebounds, and a pair of assists on 2-5 taking pictures. He was thrown in on the 3:49 mark of the third quarter and was instantly tasked to cease Tyrese Maxey. Walsh stepped up by taking part in some nice protection that resulted in him getting a fast-break layup off a pleasant cross from Jayson Tatum on the finish of the primary quarter.
Walsh checked again in on the 3:36 mark of the third quarter, the place he as soon as once more introduced the power on the defensive finish that the Celtics had been searching for. After Brown missed a midrange jumper, Walsh grabbed an enormous offensive rebound in visitors, drawing a foul and hyping up the gang. This can be a nice instance of why Walsh is so essential to the Celtics with the moment power he gives on the defensive aspect of the ball.
5. Neemias Queta X-Issue
Neemias Queta had an up-and-down sport in opposition to the 76ers in his first profession playoff begin. The great was that he completed with 13 factors and 1 block on 5-5 taking pictures however the dangerous was that he dedicated 5 fouls in solely quarter-hour of play. A number of the fouls had been dangerous however when he was on the market, Queta dominated the 76ers inside, similar to he did on March 1st when he dropped a profession 27 factors with 17 rebounds.
Very similar to a lot of the video games on the finish of the common season when Queta went off, he was a monster within the pick-and-roll in opposition to Philadelphia. If he wasn’t in foul hassle I imagine the Celtics would have spammed the identical play time and again till the 76ers might cease him. The 76ers regarded like they wished no enterprise in guarding him and if that’s the case, Queta will probably be an enormous X-factor for the Celtics on this collection if he can keep out of foul hassle.
6. Nikola Vucevic Journey
With Queta in foul hassle, Nikola Vucevic obtained much more minutes off the bench, ending with 18 in whole. If I needed to describe his efficiency it could be: an journey. Very similar to Queta, Vucevic additionally was in foul hassle, ending with 4 fouls. On the optimistic aspect he completed with 3 factors, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and a +13. We noticed Vucevic have a tough sport early on, getting dunked on by Kelly Oubre Jr and air-balling a large open shot on the basket.
Nonetheless he was additionally capable of be an actual optimistic for Boston on the glass, doing a terrific job of sealing off Bona and Drummond to safe defensive rebounds to start out the Celtics offense. He was even capable of flip one in every of these rebounds right into a transition three. It was cool to see TD Backyard yell “VOOCH” because the shot went up and the next cheers after it went in. Joe Mazzulla praised his capacity to maintain the 76ers huge males off the glass in his submit sport press convention, so though it may not look the prettiest, Vucevic is a crucial a part of this rotation.
7. Garza/Scheierman Step Up In Spot Minutes
With each Queta and Vucevic in foul hassle at factors on this sport, Luka Garza obtained an opportunity to play 14 minutes off the bench and completed with 7 factors and a pair of rebounds. Garza began the second quarter for the Celtics and instantly grabbed an enormous offensive rebound to get free throws. He adopted that up with a 3 pointer and despite the fact that he solely performed 5:27, within the second quarter, the Celtics had been capable of open up their result in 15 factors. Garza performed somewhat little bit of spot minutes within the second half as effectively and though he didn’t put up a ton of numbers on the stat sheet, he was capable of hold Philadelphia’s huge males beneath wraps.
Baylor Scheierman additionally began the second quarter alongside Garza, and had one sequence the place he made an impression. He completed a pleasant floater late within the shot clock on offense after which blocked Paul George on protection the following possession. Seeing Garza and Scheierman excel in spot minutes is big for the Celtics and is a testomony to everybody being prepared for when their quantity is named.
When requested about limiting the Celtics three-point taking pictures pregame, 76ers head coach Nick Nurse stated that he wished his group to chop the variety of three level makes an attempt down on this collection by “4-5.” Protected to say, that sport plan didn’t work out effectively. Boston was 16-44 (36%) from three which isn’t nice however was considerably higher than Philadelphia who completed 4-23 (17%).
The three-pointer is the good equalizer in relation to the NBA. It might probably each win you and lose you video games primarily based on how good the group taking pictures is. Protected to say the 76ers would possibly wish to attempt somewhat more durable to pressure the Celtics off the three-point line somewhat extra, given they misplaced by 32 factors and Boston didn’t even it shoot it effectively. I’m wondering what the rating would seem like if the Celtics made even 40% of their threes.
Tyrese Maxey is the engine that makes the Philadelphia 76ers offense go however he’s additionally taking part in by means of a proper finger tendon damage that he suffered on his pinky. When he isn’t capable of have an enormous sport, the 76ers have a tough time producing offense and we noticed it on this sport the place Maxey completed with solely 21 factors on 8-20 taking pictures. The first defenders on Maxey on this sport had been Derrick White, Jayson Tatum and Jordan Walsh and all of them did a terrific job of forcing him into powerful photographs. Maxey remains to be going to get his and might need an enormous sport on this collection in some unspecified time in the future, however I appreciated what I noticed out of the Celtics protection.
The very best half in regards to the Celtics being again within the Playoffs is that we get to listen to the roar of the TD Backyard crowd. I used to be there protecting the sport for CelticsBlog as a media member for the primary time in a playoff sport and sitting within the press field it was wonderful to listen to how loud the gang obtained in huge moments. The gang was engaged from the soar ball and I assumed even sounded loud on TV.
The spotlight of the night time was throughout the fourth quarter when in rubbish time, the TD Backyard broke out in a “We Need Boston” chant. This was a response to the Philadelphia 76ers crowd chanting it on the finish of their Play-In Match victory in opposition to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday April fifteenth. We noticed Gino Time, the wave, and a Celtics victory, it doesn’t get significantly better than that.
