Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe combined for 59 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers looked like a completely different team against the Boston Celtics in Game 2.
And unlike Game 1, the Sixers’ defense also showed up, holding Boston to 43 second-half points and 39 percent shooting for the game in a 111-97 road win to tie this Eastern Conference first-round series at 1-1.
Edgecombe scored a team-high 30 points on 12-for-20 shooting, and Maxey added 29 points and nine assists. The Sixers’ backcourt duo combined to shoot 11-for-22 from 3-point range. The Sixers were 19-for-39 from 3 after going 4 of 23 from that distance in Game 1.
Boston was led by Jaylen Brown’s game-high 36 points, but Jayson Tatum was the only other Celtics player who scored in double figures with 19. Boston shot 13-for-50 from 3-point range.
Here are some takeaways with Game 3 set for Friday in Philadelphia.
Celtics offense falls flat
The Celtics knew to expect a different effort from the 76ers.
One adjustment from Philadelphia likely didn’t take Boston by surprise. After taking just 23 3-pointers in Game 1, the 76ers sought out more long balls in Game 2.
Maxey called his own number more often. Edgecombe was aggressive from the start. As a team, the 76ers played with more freedom, firing plenty of shots that they might have turned down in the series opener. Philadelphia made plenty of those looks while shooting 48.7 percent from behind the arc.
Still, the Celtics would have been all right if they had played their usual offensive game. Instead, their offense was their biggest issue. They shot just 39.3 percent on field goal attempts. They missed 37 of 50 3-point attempts. They committed an atypical 13 turnovers.
Trying to come back in the fourth quarter, they had too many empty offensive possessions. Jaylen Brown got blocked while trying to beat the shot clock buzzer and picked up an offensive foul while hitting Maxey in the face. Jayson Tatum missed a contested pull-up 3-pointer early in the shot clock on one possession and threw away a pass on another. Derrick White was left wide open in the left corner but couldn’t find the bottom of the net. The 76ers left the door open early in the fourth quarter by missing several shots, including a couple of layups, but the Celtics couldn’t fully capitalize. Eventually, Maxey sank a series of baskets to create more separation for Philadelphia, and the Celtics largely went away down the stretch. — Jay King, Celtics beat writer
Sixers bounce back in Boston
This is the way the 76ers have to play if they want to extend this series as far as possible.
Maxey and Edgecombe have to dominate their guard matchups, which is exactly what they did in Tuesday night’s Game 2. Paul George needs to be a deterrent to Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. He doesn’t have to eclipse them, because that would be difficult. But he does have to give them a bit of pause. Most of all, the 76ers have to play the focused brand of basketball they exhibited in Game 2 rather than the sloppy and slapstick kind of hoops they played in Game 1.
The Celtics are such a good team that the above equates to near-perfect basketball. But that’s the task the Sixers are facing, particularly without star center Joel Embiid. On Tuesday night, this was a team up to the task. They were focused. They executed on both ends of the floor. They got much better play from their role players. Maxey and Edgecombe were absolutely dominant.
Overall, on both ends of the floor, this is the best game the 76ers have played in months. And they got it at just the right time. Now we have a 1-1 series heading back to Philadelphia. — Tony Jones, Sixers beat writer
