Legs

The Celtics blew the doors off the 76ers in Game 2, much to the relief/delight of Celtics fans. The game really turned in the final four minutes of the third quarter. Philly was down 18, called time out, and came back and scored a quick five points after the time out. Then the C's scored 19 straight points, and the game was over.

There will be a lot of theories bandied about as to why the Celtics were able to win so convincingly in Game 2 when Game 1 was neck and neck, but I think it's pretty simple – legs. Joel Embiid doesn't have them at all. He was wearing an entire couch on his knee, and while he is so smart a player that he picked his spots of when to jump and when not to incredibly well, he was clearly limited physically. He only took nine shots, which is just the fourth time in 48 career playoff games he failed to take 10 or more shots.

As for James Harden and the rest of the Sixers, they had eight full days off between Game 4 of the first round series against the Nets and Game 1 of this series vs. the Celtics, and then just one between Games 1 and 2.

This is not to say that Harden is going to be completely ineffective the rest of the series because he only gets one day rest from here on out. He had 10 rebounds tonight, and had four assists and zero turnovers. He was also able to grift his way to the free throw line five times. But after the slow pace of the first half and start of the second half – Reggie Miller went out of his way to note Boston's deliberate pace -- the Celtics turned up the pace in a big way toward the end of the third, and Philly didn't respond. If Boston can keep its foot on the gas pedal, Philly is going to have a hard time keeping up.

Other Notes

• Tonight was the 17th playoff game in which Robert Williams III has played 20+ minutes, and he blocked three shots. He has now blocked at least one shot in 15 of these games, and multiple shots in 14 of them. In those 17 games, he has a total of 47 blocks. Nine of those came in one game, but even if you take that away, he would have 38 blocks in 16 games – 2.4 per game. He is playing fewer minutes per game these playoffs than last, but his precense is felt every minute he's on the court.
• One of the most important developments in this game was Derrick White getting his three-point stroke back. In his prior two games, Derrick White had shot a combined 1-for-9 from three-point land and 4-for-14 overall. So it was great to see him shoot 3-for-6 from 3, and 5-for-9 overall. I wasn't quite to panic mode with his shot, but in Game 1 it seemed like his confidence was shot.
• The Celtics won most of the battles tonight – field goal %, three-point %, free throw %, rebounds, assists, and steals, but the one that I was most interested in was the turnover battle. The Celtics forced Philly into 11 turnovers, while only committing six of their own, after only forcing six Philly turnovers and committing 16 themselves in Game 1.