NBA Matchups: April 24

BOS @ PHI | LAL @ HOU | POR @ SAS

Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers

Team Totals: Celtics 111.5, 76ers 104.5

Injury Report: Joel Embiid (D, appendectomy)

76ers projected starters: Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Paul George, Kelly Oubre Jr., Adem Bona

Celtics projected starters: Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Jayson Tatum, Neemias Queta

Offensive Ranks: 76ers 17th (23rd halfcourt), Celtics second (fifth halfcourt)

Defensive Ranks: 76ers 17th (10th halfcourt), Celtics fifth (seventh halfcourt)

Season Series: 2-2

Nurse quotes: Said VJ realized he knew there were some spots he could get to, said they told Maxey and Edgecombe to be very aggressive with their shots, said the 76ers played better team defense and it was more than the two-man defense in PNR, said they were getting tremendous shots early and the 76ers just hung in there, said Edgecombe would’ve played 40 minutes if he didn’t get hurt, said Maxey really wanted the shots against the Celtics, said it was important for them to screen better and the Bona/Drummond combo did that, said everyone that played helped, said Edwards has a place in this series because he’s a big-wing defender and they need that against the Celtics, said Bona has more to bring in this series and they need him to block some shots, said PG was the early part of the game plan and they wanted to get him going again in the fourth.

Mazzulla quotes: Said the 2Q O boards allowed really hurt them and Grimes hit some big shots against them, said Drummond’s screening is something they were expecting and they need better team defense, said they will have a different game plan for Edgecombe in Game 3.

Stats and notes:

*The 76ers were able to keep their season alive thanks to excellent perimeter shooting. They made 11-of-21 (52.4%) C&S treys compared to 9-of-36 (25.0%) from Boston. The Celtics locked the paint down against the 76ers with just 32 paint points allowed, and Boston shut them down yet again down there. Philadelphia didn’t even have much output in transition either, and the 76ers shooting lights out led to a 118.1 halfcourt O rating. It feels super fluky, and the 76ers really just were able to maximize the Celtics playing a ton of drop coverage. The Celtics almost certainly won’t play quite as much drop to limit 3-pointers a little more there, but Boston should still have an excellent paint defense regardless of coverage. Offensively, they crushed the 76ers on the boards in a huge way, and they just couldn’t convert their second-chance points, getting just 22 on 18 O boards. The Celtics had the highest ORB% in the halfcourt in any game this year during the loss. It’s so crazy they lost, and I’d expect Boston to dominate Game 3.

*Tyrese Maxey got some heavy usage in Game 2 with the Celtics playing in drop so much. Maxey’s had a massive role in this series so far, and he dominated the ball more than usual in Game 2 at 8.6 minutes of touch time. Joe Mazzulla said that they are going to change up the coverages, which means they probably don’t play as much against Maxey. Still, it’s a pretty solid spot for him here with massive minutes/touches headed his way, and maybe Derrick White doesn’t guard him. It would be Jaylen Brown.