Boston Celtics: What to Watch for in Game 4

The Boston Celtics utterly dominated the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night to regain the series lead at 2-1 and home-court advantage. After this impressive win by the Celtics, Game 4 becomes a must-win for the Sixers.

If they can't win at home in Game 4, then the series is as good as over with a deciding Game 5 in the Garden.

On Boston's end, this game is obviously not a must win by any means, but at the same time, a loss would certainly be bad for the Celtics. Right now, they have the Sixers right where they want them, with no momentum and little hope.

For this series to be easy, the Celtics need to keep the Sixers without momentum and hope. In order to do that, the Celtics need to beat the Sixers again at the Wells Fargo Center to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

Given these circumstances for both teams, Game 4 should be a great game. Here are four things to watch for during the game. 

How the Sixers Respond

The Sixers are down and close to out at this point, but the question is, how will they respond while they are on the ropes?

My guess is that they will come out swinging in Game 4, giving the Celtics everything they got. I wouldn't be surprised to see them jump out to an early lead.

But what the Sixers have done to start games has had little bearing on the final result. In fact, in Games 1 and 3, the Sixers jumped out to big leads early, then faded away at end.

At the start of their lone win in Game 2, the Sixers were down double digits. So the question becomes, will the Sixers be able to respond to the Game 3 loss with 48 minutes of their best basketball?

It is quite possible that they can.

Whether or not it will be enough to beat this Celtics team remains to be seen.

One thing is certain: If the Celtics jump out to a big lead early, there is little chance that the Sixers will ever see a lead again, at least until next season. 

Can the Celtics Continue Their Great Play

There's an old saying, "when your foot is on the throat, don't adjust" or at least I think that's a saying.

In any case, real saying or not, it applies completely to the Celtics right now because make no mistake about it; the 76ers feel the pressure.

The Celtics dominated Game 3, stole all of the momentum, home-court advantage and found their swagger yet again. Now, as I said before, they have the Sixers right where they want them.

If they ease up on the Sixers and let them win Game 4, then they will have lose the momentum. At this point, there is no turning back for the Celtics, their foot is on the throat of the Sixers and now is not the time to adjust. 

How Will the Big Three Starters Play

The Big Three—Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce—all scored over 20 points in the Game 3 trouncing of the Sixers.

Their scoring was one of the main reasons that the Celtics were able to dominate the Sixers and score upwards of 100 points (a rarity for this defense "first" team). All three of them were incredibly aggressive from the opening tip until Doc finally took them out of the game.

Game 3 was a near must-win for the Celtics and Rondo, Garnett and Pierce all responded with great games. Now, because of their great play in Game 3, Game 4 is not as much of a must-win situation.

However, that is no excuse for these three not to come out firing like they did in Game 3. Like I said in the last slide, the Celtics cannot let up at this point in the series.

Rondo, Pierce and KG need to continue to attack the Sixers and remind them that they have no chance. As it is right now, these three are the best offensive options on the floor for either team, and they need to live up to that in Game 4. 

Paging the Shooting Guards...

In the last slide, I referred to Garnett, Rondo and Pierce as the Big Three of the starters which has been an accurate description ever since Ray Allen was moved to a bench role.

Now, Ray is still a part of the Big Four, but he needs to start playing more like his fellow members. Last game, he scored just three points and missed a free throw.

And when Ray Allen misses a free throw, it is worth writing about. 

The only player to score less points than Ray with at least 20 minutes of play was his counterpart, Avery Bradley (who didn't register a single point during his time on the floor).

In order for the Celtics to contend down the line, they will need a greater contribution from their two—usually reliable—shooting guards.

Having said all that though, I still am cutting Bradley and Allen a lot of slack because Allen has bone spurs in his ankle, which don't sound like fun at all and Bradley's shoulder could literally pop out again at any moment.

Both of them are playing through incredible pain and doing a great job on the defensive end. Now, if they can just find some scoring, the Celtics will be well on their way to Banner 18.