What is the story about?
Maybe we do want Boston?
The Sixers smoked the Celtics 106-93 in Game 6 in a contest that was not as close as the score would indicate. There will a Game 7 in Boston Saturday.
Tyrese Maxey was brilliant from start to finish, leading all scorers with 30 points, shooting 11-of-22 from the floor along with five assists. Joel Embiid didn’t shoot well but still had the offense humming with his gravity. He finished with 19 points, going 6-of-18 from the floor.
Paul George was the flamethrower the Sixers needed,
scoring 23 points, shooting 8-of-17 from the field and 5-of-9 from three.VJ Edgecombe was very complementary in transition, finishing with 14 points on 11 shots along with eight rebounds. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 18.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- It didn’t take as long for Embiid to find his jumper as he nailed a turnaround from the midrange on his first touch of the game. He and Edgecombe went on to miss open threes as both offenses started off slow. Embiid and Jayson Tatum had dueling and-1s off of drives, but Tatum even missed the free throw. George hit the first three of the game and Maxey shook Derrick White on the following possession to do the same.
- Embiid was operating a lot from the three-point line again, and again did miss his first two shots from behind the arc. The offense stalled out for a couple minutes after that second three before Maxey got to the basket. Quentin Grimes checked in around the same time for Edgecombe, so he wasn’t taking any of Kelly Oubre Jr.‘s minutes. The two of them worked to strip Brown on Grimes’ first possession of the game.
- It became very clear that the Sixers were happy with whatever shot Boston took as long as it came from inside the arc. While the Celtics made three of them, they only attempted seven in the quarter. The Sixers generated the looks they wanted to on the other end as well, playing out of Embiid and Maxey’s two-man game. Like a lot of other moments in this series, they could not get them to go. The fast break layup Grimes smoked doesn’t count towards this category, but the three wide open jumpers from inside the foul line Embiid missed did. The Celtics took a three-point lead as the Sixers missed their last seven shots of the first.
Second Quarter
- The Sixers’ field goal drought lasted a couple minutes into the quarter, but Edgecombe and Embiid getting to the line while keeping Boston off the board. Embiid nailed a three to end two droughts. Brown answered with a bucket and Edgecombe threw down a big transition dunk with Brown in the area as the teams spent a few minutes on the seesaw.
- White and Oubre have struggled more than anyone to shoot the ball in this series and they both knocked down threes in the quarter as the shotmaking picked up. The Sixers were still getting good looks on the majority of their touches. Maxey was the most consistent. He would use up the entirety of the half court getting to the basket and was able to weave his way through. George got hot as well, but that was from behind the arc.
- The Sixers had some weird, potentially momentum killing plays, like Oubre turning it over right after grabbing a rebound and a reckless Embiid foul on a defender after Maxey had made a layup. For every one, the Sixers, mainly Maxey, had an answer in the first half. He was able to drill a three despite selling out to draw a foul, and he got to the rim again to put the Sixers up by nine at the break.
Third Quarter
- The second half couldn’t have started better for the Sixers as Oubre stole an errant pass in the lane and found George for another three on the break. On the ensuing possession, Brown was called for a moving screen to pick up his fourth of the night before Embiid hit a midrange J. As the Celtics were reeling, Brown made a tough step-back three in Oubre’s face, but the Sixers responded with two beautiful behind-the-back passes. Embiid hit Oubre in the dunker passing out of a double while George was able to thread the needle to Edgecombe in transition.
- White was easily having his best game of the series as he made another three coming out of the Celtics’ timeout. George was able to answer that right after Oubre caught an Embiid airball and popped it right back in.
- Once the Sixers had gotten their lead to 15, their offense would stall again. Maxey was able to get to the basket again and George nailed a couple tough pull-ups to answer Boston’s nibbling. A couple stops later and Maxey extended the lead with an amazingly acrobatic layup. Andre Drummond appeared to drill a three from the corner, but he just didn’t get up in time and the Sixers had to settle for a 19-point lead after three.
Fourth Quarter
- The offense kept rolling for the first two minutes of the quarter with Embiid and Justin Edwards able to get easy baskets in the midrange. Embiid looked to do it again before hitting a cutting George on the baseline for a reverse layup. After a timeout, Joe Mazzulla put in an all-bench lineup, a move that felt like a message to his own team more than anything. Those guys were able to rip off an 11-0 run to remind everyone that the game wasn’t over yet.
- That run was ended by a much needed friendly roll on an Embiid jumper. Maxey making another winding layup did a lot to settle things. The crowd really felt back in it when Oubre drew a foul and Embiid mimicked Oubre’s push-ups getting back up. Embiid then found Edgecombe out of the post for a big corner three.
- The Celtics never put their starters back in the game. Something worth monitoring is that Tatum appeared to leave with an injury. Embiid and George finally checked out for the night with two minutes left up by 14, soon to be 15 after an impressive and-1 from Edgecombe.
