{"id":714693,"date":"2026-04-20T17:13:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714693\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T17:13:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:13:36","slug":"well-philly-you-wanted-the-celtics-so-how-you-like-them-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714693\/","title":{"rendered":"Well Philly, you wanted the Celtics \u2026 so, how you like them now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re not usually big around here on drawing grand conclusions from the first game of a playoff series. But after the Celtics dismantled the Sixers in Sunday\u2019s Game 1, winning, 123-91<\/a>, and making Sixers fans\u2019 chants of \u201cWe want Boston!\u201d during Wednesday\u2019s play-in win over the Magic look ridiculous, the conclusions we are drawing are not grand. These conclusions are obvious.<\/p>\n

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The Celtics had no drama, no suspense, and no problems in Game 1. They shot the ball well (50 percent overall, 36.4 percent from 3) and hassled the Sixers\u2019 rapid backcourt duo of Maxey and Edgecombe into 14-of-36 shooting, including 1 of 9 from distance. (Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla matched up Derrick White\u2019s minutes with Maxey\u2019s, one more bit of evidence that he\u2019s the modern Dennis Johnson but without the occasional moods.)<\/p>\n

Public address announcer Eddie Palladino had barely finished introducing the starting lineups when the Celtics jumped to a 22-9 lead. White hit Jaylen Brown for a layup, extending a Celtics run to 14-2. The Celtics hit the 50-point mark with 6:40 left in the half, and scored at least 28 points in each of the four quarters.<\/p>\n

\"JaylenJaylen Brown showed emotional leadership during the Celtics’ blowout victory to start their playoff journey.Barry Chin\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

That start-to-finish excellence was the blueprint for winning this series with ease, perhaps in a gentleman\u2019s sweep \u2014 meaning one cursory loss on the road. But they don\u2019t seem all that interested in playing like gentlemen right now. They \u2014 particularly Brown and Jayson Tatum, or \u201cBatman and Batman,\u201d as ESPN analyst Jay Bilas twice put it during the broadcast \u2014 are playing like they\u2019re on a mission to prove every doubter a fool.<\/p>\n

Tatum, in his first playoff appearance since rupturing his right Achilles last May 12 during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, played an all-around sensational game from the jump. Playing the whole first quarter, he scored 10 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and had 4 assists. He finished with a near triple-double \u2014 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists \u2014 and might have one had he not checked out for good with 7:15 left.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just one playoff game, but it was understandably fulfilling for Tatum: one more injury ghost exorcised, one more checkmark on the post-comeback to-do list.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were days where I wasn\u2019t even sure I was going to play this season, let alone get a chance to play today,\u201d said Tatum. \u201cSo, I\u2019m openly just grateful that I\u2019m in this position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the other Batman (Batman 1A? Co-Batman?) did his finest work after intermission. Brown scored 16 of his 26 points in the third quarter, including the Celtics\u2019 final 7. He also contributed 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals while sitting out the entire fourth. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was Celtics basketball,\u201d said Brown. \u201cWe\u2019ve been a hard-playing team all year; that can\u2019t change now that the playoffs have started. But then it\u2019s just focusing in, honing in on the details, and just winning the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown was the subject of another Bilas proclamation, which he made twice: That Brown will be first-team all-NBA this year. There is a lot of question about that with Cade Cunningham and Luka Doncic declared eligible, but it would be a shame if he doesn\u2019t. <\/p>\n

Especially since the defense-averse Doncic has run past midcourt approximately 14 times since the start of the 2024 Finals.<\/p>\n

One of Brown\u2019s steals was important, at least as far as second-half plays went. With the Sixers trailing, 73-58, after knocking 8 points off the Celtics\u2019 lead via the home team suddenly playing too methodically, Brown hustle and awareness tipped away a Philly pass at midcourt, got the ball back, and drilled a 3. <\/p>\n

When Nikola Vucevic followed with another 3, the only suspense remaining was whether Ron Harper Jr. \u2014 a favorite in this space from his time with the Maine Celtics \u2014 would continue to look like a future rotation player during garbage time. (He did, with 5 points in four minutes.)<\/p>\n

Before it was over Celtics fans, as they are always adept at doing, trolled Sixers fans on a championship level, chanting a mocking \u201cWe want Boston!\u201d late in the easy breeze to victory.<\/p>\n

This is where we are obliged to remind those same Philly fans of something they surely already know: Every Celtics-Sixers game doubles as a massive what-if for Philly. If you\u2019ll recall, and I know you will, the Celtics took Brown (2016) and Tatum (2017) \u2014 right, Jay, the two Batmen \u2014 with the No. 3 pick in back-to-back drafts.<\/p>\n

The Sixers picked first in both of those years, taking Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz. They even sent the No. 3 pick that became Tatum and a bonus future first-round pick Danny Ainge\u2019s way for the top pick and the right to take Fultz after the Celtics had won the lottery. That future pick was part of the package to acquire White.<\/p>\n

Bet you guys wanted all of that too.<\/p>\n

Chad Finn can be reached at chad.finn@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019re not usually big around here on drawing grand conclusions from the first game of a playoff series.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-714693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116438159670373245","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}