Terry Rozier, Balanced Celtics Beat 76ers in Game 2 as Ben Simmons Struggles
Not even a 22-point deficit can stop the Boston Celtics from winning playoff games on their home floor.
Boston extended its winning streak at TD Garden this postseason to six on Thursday with a 108-103 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of the second-round series. Philadelphia appeared to be in full control with a 22-point advantage in the first half, but the Celtics came storming back and pushed their lead to 2-0 in the matchup.
Terry Rozier has spearheaded the Celtics for extended stretches without Kyrie Irving, and Game 2 was no different. The third-year playmaker finished with 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and seized control in crunch time.
His team was up just one with less than four minutes remaining when he drilled a corner three, attacked the lane and finished past Joel Embiid, and lobbed to Jayson Tatum for an emphatic alley-oop. It was a six-point lead just like that, and a layup from Al Horford and free throws from Tatum eventually iced it after Philadelphia clawed back.
Rozier also won the head-to-head matchup with counterpart Ben Simmons, as the 76ers rookie scored a mere one point behind 0-of-4 shooting from the field.
The Celtics have battled through adversity throughout the playoffs without the injured Irving, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis—in addition to temporary setbacks to Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown—and the significant hole in Thursday's contest was just another obstacle to clear.
They received a boost with Brown's return from the hamstring ailment that sidelined him for Game 1, and he fired up the crowd and provided another dimension to the offense with multiple rim-rattling jams.
He was part of a necessary balanced effort to overcome a talented Sixers squad working with an initial lead, as Brown (13 points), Tatum (21 points), Smart (19 points and four triples), Horford (13 points and 12 rebounds) and Marcus Morris (11 points and six boards) joined Rozier in double figures.
Boston needed all of that firepower after the 76ers appeared to be cruising to victory before the home team finished the second quarter on a 25-8 run to cut the deficit to five. Rozier found his stroke from deep and unleashed a nasty Eurostep during the stretch, and Smart's outside shooting helped soften a typically stout Philadelphia defense.
The explosion continued into the third quarter behind Tatum's dribble drives, as the rookie took advantage of mismatches on Marco Belinelli and others while Boston took the lead and control of the contest.
The Celtics defense deserves plenty of credit as well, especially for the way it has handled Simmons through the first two games of this series.
Head coach Brad Stevens had defenders sag off the point guard and take away his passing lanes while collapsing on any penetration, and there was a clear hesitation to shoot when opportunities presented themselves. Smart also harassed him in transition, preventing him from establishing any type of rhythm with clean looks.
After turning it over seven times in Game 1, Simmons coughed it up five more times Thursday.
Philadelphia found more success with T.J. McConnell running the point, as he was a plus-16 on the contest compared to Simmons' minus-23, per ESPN.com. As a result, Simmons sat to end the third quarter and didn't come back in until there was 5:29 remaining.
His poor game nullified an impressive showing from JJ Redick, who scored the first eight points of the game on his way to 23 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep.
The Duke product took advantage of space created by doubles on Embiid, but he also worked off back screens and cut to open spaces while putting tremendous pressure on the Celtics defense.
Embiid added 20 points and 14 rebounds but was just 8-of-22 from the field, dealing with efficiency issues while his point guard struggled to create open looks for the frontcourt.
The series now shifts to Philadelphia for Saturday's Game 3, and the 76ers will need to take advantage of the upcoming two contests at Wells Fargo Center to avoid being on the brink of elimination.
