2012 NBA Playoffs: Philadelphia Gets Defensive to Force a Game 7 in Boston

Will Game 7 between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers be anything like Game 6?

It could, but it would be nice to see a game that has some offensive flow rather than a game with low scoring and turnovers.

In a series that has gone back and forth in terms of either team pulling out victories will now be heading to a decisive Game 7 after the Philadelphia 76ers pulled out a 82-75 victory in Game 6, evening the series against the Boston Celtics 3-3.

The Sixers did manage to win Game 2 in Boston, so at this point in time anything could happen in the upcoming game.

The Philadelphia 76ers were led by a resurgent defense and the play of point guard Jrue Holiday, who outplayed Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo (who looked out of “sorts”) to the point where the Celtics were forced to use a different defender to slow the young guard down.

The Sixers were also able to force turnovers and get into a groove during the second-half by scoring points and making the Celtics play from behind.

The key for the Sixers was their ability to repeatedly get into the painted area, thus exposing the Celtics interior defenders and pressuring them to challenge their shots while possibly opening up a passing lane for an easy score closer to the basket.

Specifically, the pressure was placed on the Celtics frontcourt (Kevin Garnett, Brandon Bass, Greg Stiemsma and Ryan Hollins) to come out of the painted area, thus leading to a floater by Holiday, Evan Turner, Lou Williams or Andre Iguodala, rather than settling for jump shots.

Furthermore, the Celtics looked out of sync on the offensive end, as Rondo and Ray Allen did not have great games, which meant that veterans Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett would have to do more and looked gassed.

All of this is now in the past as both teams will battle once again for a chance to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals.