Familiar face will be in Boston for Sixers-Celtics Game 2

The Eastern Conference semifinals get a change of venue as a pair of Atlantic Division rivals take the hardwood in the City of Brotherly Love. The Sixers, with rumors already swirling around their offseason [VIDEO], rushed out to a 22-point first half lead only to face a five-point deficit at the end of the third quarter.

Celtics lead 1-0. Game 2, 8:30 p.m. EDT, TNT.

“They won two games at home and we have to reciprocate”, Sixers coach Brett Brown said. Against Miami, the Sixers ran a flurry of off ball screens and cuts to capitalize off of inattentive defense.

During Monday’s edition of “First Things First” on Fox Sports 1, Wright explained why he only can think of one scenario in which the Celtics take down the 76ers in the best-of-seven series. Boston was an underdog – even at home – in both games of this series, and are now 9-0 against the spread as a home underdog this season.

He’s still a rookie, but this is the rookie who averaged a triple-double as his team went 20-1 over the last 16 games of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs. “They just looked me in the eye and they were back and forth and unsure, and I was like ‘Hey, I’m playing, that’s it'”. Although the score wasn’t out of reach for the 76ers, the game appeared to be emotionally capped off after Rozier sent an alley-oop to the sky for Jayson Tatum with 2:23 left. Tatum has responded to every challenge, averaging 17 points, five rebounds and three assists in his first postseason.

But head coach Brad Stevens didn’t worry as much.

With Game 1 down, there are at least 3 more to go, and personally, I have the Boston Celtics winning in 5. Philadelphia came out hot for much of the first half with J.J.

Al isn’t McHale and the Sixers are not going to shoot 19 percent from behind that 3-point line, while missing defensive assignments like they were wearing eye masks for sleeping.

76ers: Outrebounded the Celtics 49-41. They lead increased to five points. Robert Covington added 22 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.

“It’s just about the worst I’ve played all year”, said Simmons, who finished with one point, five rebounds, seven assists and five turnovers. He’s going to have to step up for the 76ers to get back in the series.

Philadelphia-born rapper Meek Mill sat courtside for Game 2. Trying to, on the road, make sure you have an ample number of timeouts, you know it’s going to be a close game. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow, and we’ll go from there”.

Brown elected to give T.J. McConnell (Arizona product) backup point guard duties in Game 1. If the Celtics keep him running, it wears him out quicker, forcing the 76ers to adjust.

The former Duke standout put the league on notice with his 28 points, showing that Kyrie Irving and Grant Hill may not be the best basketball players the school has ever produced. Defensively, the Celtics are yielding 100.4 points per game against the opposing teams.

At times, Simmons didn’t look locked into the contest and during his post-game press conference he admitted he was over-thinking the game.