Joel Embiid, 76ers Beat Jayson Tatum, Celtics as T.J. McConnell Shines
No team in NBA history has won a best-of-seven postseason series after falling behind 3-0, but the Philadelphia 76ers took the first step in their attempt at history Monday.
Philadelphia defeated the Boston Celtics 103-92 in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series at Wells Fargo Center and at least temporarily prevented the Celtics from clinching their spot in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year.
Dario Saric spearheaded the scoring efforts with 25 points and eight rebounds, Joel Embiid notched a double-double with 15 points and 13 boards, and Ben Simmons stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals. T.J. McConnell was also key as a new starter, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Jayson Tatum led the way for Boston with 20 points.
The Boston defense on Simmons has been a primary focus early in this series, as the Celtics are sagging off him to cut off passing and driving lanes and making a concerted effort to prevent him from getting out in transition to create easy looks.
It is no surprise Boston has been effective considering it was tops in the league in defensive rating during the regular season, per NBA.com, but Sixers head coach Brett Brown made an adjustment to throw a new look at the stifling opposition.
With Robert Covington also struggling at times in this series, McConnell got the nod to start alongside Simmons and serve as a primary ball-handler. He did a little bit of everything by battling bigs for rebounds and darting into the lane to find shots at the rim for himself and others, providing a spark to both the team and crowd.
However, his presence also allowed Simmons to play off the ball, which took away some of the defensive traffic that Boston created by packing the lane with him as a point guard.
The result was a balanced 76ers attack, as Saric and Embiid had additional space to operate inside the lane or in pick-and-rolls and pick-and-pops with the ball-handlers. Simmons also established himself down low with post-ups and attacks from closer to the hole.
The performance even had Embiid talking trash, although Marcus Morris was quick to remind him of the massive deficit Philadelphia must overcome:
The back-against-the-wall desperation that deficit creates was evident on the defensive side, as the Sixers sent aggressive double-teams and traps on the perimeter and hedged off ball screens in an effort to prevent Terry Rozier and Tatum from taking over again.
Boston struggled with the additional pressure and turned it over 15 times, which limited its otherwise balanced attack from making significant inroads on a deficit that swelled to as many as 18 in the fourth quarter.
While five Celtics scored in double figures, the extended stretches of Rozier blowing past defenders with his first step or showing off his lightning-quick release on his three-pointers were missing. He was just 1-of-6 from deep while scoring 11 points, which put more of the onus on Tatum, Al Horford (10 points and 10 rebounds) and Morris (17 points) to create the offense.
The loss was far from the only worrisome news for a team that is already without Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis because of injury.
Shane Larkin exited with what the team deemed a shoulder injury, which put additional responsibilities on a backcourt dealing with Philadelphia's hounding pressure. The high turnover number was noticeable, and the Celtics will be hard-pressed to keep a fresh rotation moving forward if Larkin misses time.
The series now shifts back to Boston for Wednesday's Game 5, where the 76ers will look to continue a one-game-at-a-time approach and force a Game 6 in Philadelphia. If they do that, they will be just one home win away from a decisive Game 7.
