By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers have had a few days to mull over their Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics on Monday. Brett Brown and company will look to make adjustments and earn a victory on the road tonight with the series shifting to Philadelphia for Games 3 & 4. Coverage begins on TNT at 8:30 p.m.
The Sixers shot an abysmal 19.2 percent from beyond the arc in Game 1 due to a combination of shots just not falling and Boston's perimeter defense. Dario Saric, Robert Covington and JJ Redick went a combined 2-for-15 from beyond.
In addition, Philadelphia's defense was just not there all game. Once it looked like they were going to cut into the lead, they couldn't get a stop. They had lapses covering the pick-and-roll while JJ Redick and Marco Belinelli struggled to guard rookie forward Jayson Tatum and the more quick Boston guards all night. A handful of Celtics players found themselves wide open on the perimeter on numerous occasions due to Sixers miscues, something Joel Embiid mentioned cannot happen tonight.
“Defensively we were trash,” Embiid said at shootaround on Tuesday. “They made a lot of shots. We didn’t. We’ve got a lot of good shooters. Everyone has off nights, so Thursday’s going to be a different story. We just have to correct a couple stuff defensively and we’re going to be fine.”
It's true, the Celtics did make a lot of shots. Terry Rozier scored 29 points on 11-for-18 shooting, Jayson Tatum had 28 on 8-for-16 while Al Horford finished with 27 points on 10-for-12 shooting. In Game 1, Robert Covington, one of Philadelphia's usually lock-down defenders, had issues guarding Terry Rozier. You figure that you have an advantage not having to deal with a guy like Kyrie Iriving, but if the Sixers plan to have a chance in Game 2, they'll need to slow Rozier down.
“He’s got a real ability to score," Brett Brown told reporters on Wednesday. "He has a dance with the ball, a live ball, that I think is elite. And there’s a freedom that he has that sort of partners with confidence under a pretty impressive skill package. It’s a perfect storm, especially as they search for what Kyrie brought to them and now they don’t have. He provides a heck of plan b.”
Rozier is averaging 19 points per game this postseason, shooting shooting 56.8 percent from beyond the arc at home.
Game Notes:
- Brad Stevens said he was okay letting Joel Embiid get his on Monday as guarding the perimeter was more important to the Celtics. The strategy worked as Boston held the Sixers to just five three-pointers on 26 attempts. It'll be interesting to see how Brett Brown adjusts tonight.
- A loss tonight would put the Sixers up against some pretty tough historical odds. The Syracuse/Philadelphia franchise has gone 0-14 in series' in which they trail 0-2.
- Brett Brown reiterated at practice this week that he plans to continue to play T.J. McConnell over Markelle Fultz as Ben Simmons' backup.
- Philadelphia 76ers legend Dr. J told ESPN on Thursday morning that he believes Jayson Tatum should have been the top pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
- According to ESPN, Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin will be bringing Meek Mill to Boston for Game 2 tonight. Meek was released from prison and rang the Sixers ceremonial bell before one of their games against the Heat.
| Game 2 Projected Lineups | May 3, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia 76ers (0-1) |
Boston Celtics (1-0) |
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