NBA Playoffs 2012: Can Philadelphia 76ers Win After Getting Crushed by Celtics?

There have been a million and one quotes that embody the need to learn through experience. It's damn near universally accepted that you have to learn in order to succeed. Do you think these musings bring any relief to the Philadelphia 76ers tonight?

Of course, this should have been expected. You don't jump on the scorer's table after advancing out of the first round without the basketball gods extracting their piece of flesh. Listening to Philadelphia sports talk radio, you would think that the Sixers had the series in hand after Game 2.

Let us speak honestly amongst ourselves; the Sixers could have been down 0-2 just as easily as they walked away with a 1-1 split after two games in Boston. This is LAST CALL for the Boston Celtics as they are currently constructed. Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett are free agents when the playoffs end. Rajon Rondo seems to have been on the trade block more often than not.

Why would Philadelphia fans think that the Celtics would go softly into the night?

It's not that the Sixers don't have a change to prove victorious in the series. More Boston players are sporting injuries than should be fair. The Celtics are old, vicious and cranky as hell. This might be their last, best shot at a title. Why should they roll over for a young Sixers squad?

Who will lead the Sixers? The Celtics can boast at least four playoff-tested veterans. The Sixers have Andre Iguodala's Team USA experience and the handful of second-round playoff games that Elton Brand played as a Clipper. How do you get Jrue Holiday (Tha Damaja) and Evan Turner to counter the veteran wiles of Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen?

It's not that the Sixers can't win. The problem is that they need on-the-job training in how to outlast more talented or experienced teams. Far too often in Game 3, it seemed like no 76er other than Tha Damaja wanted to shoot the ball. There were jump passes, bad passes and non-passes.

Meanwhile, the Celtics moved like a river flowing downstream.

They've been here so many times that it's almost not worth mentioning. How many time have the Celtics been counted out in recent years? For the same reason the Sixers could make a Finals run (D-Rose injury, Chris Bosh injury and the Pacers playing to their full potential), the Celtics have an even better case under those conditions. We are talking about the proverbial tortoise and the hare here, and we all know who wins that race.

For the Sixers to win, they have to grow. They can't have they best player on the floor be a second-round rookie (Lavoy Allen, holla at Temple). Allen might not produce aesthetically pleasing plays and hasn't been intimidated in the least by Kevin Garnett, which is an accomplishment.

The Sixers have to learn that they don't need to rush the ball up the floor every possession. They need to learn that you can't wait for the double-team to come before you pass. They have to learn that a jump pass is NEVER a good pass.

Only the depth of the Sixers bench and the whole of their ambition can defeat a determined, veteran Celtics team. Are the Sixers that team? Can such a team be coached by Doug Collins?

Hell, you've got as good of an idea of that as I have. But that's not really what matters. If the Sixers reach down deep and play up to the level of their competition, this will be a phenomenally entertaining seven-game series.

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*Jrue Holiday = Jeru Tha Damaja