Boston spotted Philadelphia a 14-point lead in the first quarter (25-11) of Game 2 but it hardly could have mattered less as the Celtics rolled to an emphatic 128-101 blowout. They now lead the first round series 2-0 and this has all the makings of a sweep, I'm just waiting to hear the Sixers chant "1-2-3 Cancun" in one of their huddles while Brett Brown starts updating his resume and LinkedIn profile. On one hand, the Orlando bubble has shown us that nobody is unbeatable without the crutch of home-court advantage to fall back on as the top seeds in both conferences (Bucks and Lakers) each lost their Game 1 yesterday. Still, at this rate it'll be shocking if the C's don't win the next two games by double-digits easy.
I almost feel bad for Joel Embiid (game-high 34 points and 10 rebounds) because he is one of the NBA's best players but right now, his supporting cast is a bunch of nobodies and that's being extremely generous. Somewhere Ben Simmons wakes up in a cold sweat. No matter what they do, Philly has less than zero chance to win this series especially after losing the first two games. Then again, how much less engaged can they get? On the other end of the court, Jayson Tatum (33 points including 8-for-12 on 3-pointers with 5 rebounds and 5 assists) continues his rise to NBA royalty in his own right. At the ripe old age of 22, his potential seems limitless and he's lucky that he has more than capable teammates like Jaylen Brown (20 points, 5 rebounds) and Kemba Walker (22 points) around him.
After outscoring Boston 33-27 in the first quarter (when they should have been up by way more), Philadelphia fell off a cliff for the rest of this laugher. The Celts posted 30+ in each of the last three frames: 38-24 in the second quarter, 33-18 in the third quarter and 30-26 in the fourth quarter. As you can imagine, basically the entire second half was extended garbage time and as such, many role players for the C's had nice nights. Starting for the injured Gordon Hayward, Marcus Smart had 10 points on a very Smart-esque 3-for-11 shooting (1-for-7 on 3s!). Enes Kanter nearly had a double-double (10 points, 9 rebounds) in only 22 minutes of action. Rookie Grant Williams added nine points and six rebounds for Boston while Brad Wanamaker scored seven points and rookie Romeo Langford notched six points. Hell even Tacko Fall had three points in his NBA playoff debut.
If the roles were reversed and Brad Stevens was in charge of this junior varsity version of the Sixers, you at least could count on him getting the most out of the limited roster. Also, the team would always play hard no matter what. Unfortunately for the Sixers, they are stuck with Brown (not for long though!) who is woefully overmatched when he runs into any competent NBA counterpart. Then again, what can be reasonably expected of a starting lineup that includes such lumanaries as Josh Richardson (18 points), Shake Milton (14 points) and ice cold Tobias Harris (13 points, 11 rebounds on 4-for-15 shooting)? All that you need to know is that Boston's shaky bench-with its best player Smart starting-still managed to outscore Philadelphia's bench 41-20.
Be sure to begin your Friday night (6:30, NBC Sports Boston) festivities by watching the Celtics destroy the Sixers once again. Toronto is probably going to sweep Brooklyn and as I said, Milwaukee is at least guaranteed of playing a needless extra game in the first round against Orlando. Boston is a pretty young team overall but a little more rest would be a bonus before the playoffs really begin for them. This series is already a joke and call me crazy but I like watching competitive contests in the postseason. Leave the lopsided scores for sleepy regular season games in the dead of winter. I demand more entertainment, specifically I want to see Tatum, Brown and by extension Stevens tested against legitimate opposition.
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