Celtics create unexpected conundrum for 76ers after Game 1

2026-04-20 · Yahoo Sports

The Celtics have had one of the best offenses in NBA history this season, but their 123-91 win over the 76ers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series started on the defensive end of the floor.

Boston limited the Sixers to just 18 first quarter points as they built a double-digit lead and did not look back from there, carrying that advantage the whole way while putting together the biggest opening win to the postseason in franchise history.

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“We’ve been a hard-playing team all year, that can’t change now that the playoffs have started,” Jaylen Brown said. “But then it’s just focusing in, honing in on the details and just winning the fight. Being the harder-playing team and just guarding. Our offense can’t win us this series. I mean, our offense is important, but we got to make sure we guard. And I think tonight, we did a great job.”

The Sixers had a miserable shooting night from the field (38 percent) and the 3-point line (17 percent) but one part of Philadelphia’s game was more concerning than their accuracy. The Sixers got up just 23 3-point attempts in the defeat, 12 attempts below the team’s average for the season.

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The absence of Joel Embiid (surgery recovery) did not help matters on that front but a disciplined Boston defense took away clean looks from the perimeter for Sixers top scorers while watching unproven ones get a little gunshy after an ugly start.

“I mean, obviously, part of our game plan, right?” Tatum said. “They have some really talented scorers over there and guys, especially with Maxey and George. Kelly Oubre hit five threes in the play-in game. So guys that you want to obviously get to their airspace. Playoffs is about making things tough. You can’t stop everything, and obviously they probably feel like they could shoot the ball better and things like that. But I was proud of the way that we started the game, especially on the defensive end, and it just kind of continued to carry over.”

Boston gave up an average of 39 3-point attempts per game in the regular season but the calculus has changed for this group against the Sixers lineup. With no formidable interior threats for the Sixers, the Celtics’ versatile wings and guards did not let Maxey get comfortable throughout Game 1. Elsewhere, a lack of confidence ended up burning the rest of Philadelphia’s lineup, leading to some tough questions for Nick Nurse.

“I need to look at it a little bit, but I really think there was a bunch of them we just didn’t take,” Nurse said of the Sixers 3-point attempts. “I think everybody decided they were going to pump fake and drive into the lane. I think there was some clearance for guys to take some more of them. I got to look at it a little more closely, but it was like the first thing I thought of. We got a little gun shy, which is too bad because I thought the other night I mentioned, I thought we played so free. It was almost too free, but it’s better than pump vacant and trying to drive everything when you got open threes.”

Boston’s offense will be nearly impossible to keep up all series for a team struggling with 3-point value. The Celtics will look to keep that pressure on in Game 2 as the Sixers attempt to regroup.

“Playoff energy, playoff basketball is so much fun,” Brown said. “I’m happy to be here, and great first win, but nothing is guaranteed. We’re not guaranteed to win the next game. We just got to come out and play and earn it.”

Celtics create unexpected conundrum for 76ers after Game 1

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