After narrowly losing 119-115 to the Philadelphia 76ers in game one of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Boston Celtics met expectations and exceeded them in game two of their best out of seven series at Toronto Dominion Garden in Boston on Wednesday. Small forward Jaylen Brown of Marietta, Georgia led the Celtics with 25 points as Boston spanked Philadelphia 121-87 to tie the best out of seven series at one game apiece.
Brown was one of five Celtics to reach double digits in scoring. The 2023 Sixth Man of the Year Award winner Malcolm Brogdon of Atlanta, Georgia had 23 points, the 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner Marcus Smart of Flower Mound, Texas had 15 points, Derek White of Parker, Colorado also had 15 points, and Grant Williams of Houston, Texas had 12 points.
The Celtics won every quarter. They outscored the 76ers 28-22 in the first quarter and 29-27 in the second quarter to take a 57-49 lead into halftime. It was the third quarter where Boston performed at its highest level. They outscored Philadelphia 35-16 to take a convincing 92-65 lead before outscoring the 76ers 29-22 in the final 12 minutes.
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Philadelphia did deserve some praise in containing Jayson Tatum, who only had seven points. However, the Celtics supporting cast were simply admirable.
From a 76ers perspective, NBA MVP Joel Embiid of Yaounde, Cameroon returned to the lineup and scored 15 points. Even though James Harden of Los Angeles, California had a double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds), his 12 points were 33 points fewer than he had in thee first game of the series. The series now shifts to Philadelphia on Friday.
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