After being all the way out, Sixers fans are all the way back in after their Game 2 stunner in Boston. Tying the series up 1-1 against the Celtics, I’m soaking it up. Before Game 3 rolls around, here are some choice thoughts I have about the Sixers…
Tyrese Maxey took charge when the Sixers needed it most
I’ll be honest. I was a tad disappointed with Tyrese Maxey for a good chunk of Game 2. His raw shooting stats (11-28) weren’t up to par and, in the second half, he was repeatedly indecisive when he should’ve been the one playing hero for the team.
When
Boston cut the Sixers lead to merely two points in the fourth quarter, I was terrified. I had watched this all unfold more times than I’ve seen Seinfeld reruns. Maxey, however, flipped the narrative of his evening after that. On consecutive possessions, Maxey drilled three-pointers, padding the Sixers’ lead to eight as the team never looked back.
VJ Edgecombe is rightfully stealing the headlines with his 30-point performance as a 20-year-old rookie in just his second-ever playoff game, but Maxey had the guts to get the job done when everyone in the Delaware Valley was counting on him.
The Sixers found their three-point shot in Game 2
Speaking of three-pointers, the Sixers had a laughable effort on that front in Game 1. They shot just 17 percent from deep, making only four of their 23 long-range attempts. No team in the postseason in 2026 is winning while making just four triples, but the volume is what annoyed me the most. They needed to hoist those bad boys up in the hopes of having some wild shooting variance that could have them steal a game or two.
That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday. The Sixers attempted 39 threes and made 49 percent of them. That was the game! Sure, they’re not going to be making nearly half their three-pointers for the remainder of this series, but let it fly in an attempt to have some luck fall their way, not unlike a mid-major program keeping a blue blood school on their toes during March Madness.
The wild adventures of Adem Bona continue on
I guess head coach Nick Nurse will continue trotting out Adem Bona as the nominal starting center even if Andre Drummond is playing more minutes than him nightly in the postseason, but, sheesh, he is a frustrating player to watch. I’m aware Bona is just a 23-year-old former second-round pick in his sophomore NBA campaign, but this is the playoffs against the Celtics! All those qualifiers go out the window when you’re fighting for your postseason livelihood on the road in Boston!
There have been multiple occasions already in this series where Bona was dribbling in transition and disaster happened to the surprise of literally no one. I’m intrigued by the possibility of Bona being an energetic backup big man down the line, but the time is not now for that.
I get that Nurse, who I can’t say I’m a huge fan of from the jump, is limited on what he can do while Joel Embiid is out and the other options are a 32-year-old Drummond or a small-ball look with Dominick Barlow, but it’s beyond frustrating to watch Bona’s gaffes when the stakes are this high.
Can Embiid return this weekend in South Philadelphia? It would be a remarkable turnaround as he recovers from an emergency appendectomy, but his presence is certainly missed to say the least.
The Wink Seen ‘Round the World
Edgecombe delivered an instantly iconic moment in Sixers lore, drilling a late three to continue putting the Celtics in a hole and then proceeded to wink in a way that was perfectly captured on television:
The kid has aura!
Is he a superstar “in the making” or one already? Let’s see how the next few games play out…
Will it be a Boston takeover this weekend?
While they were no sarcastic “We Want Boston!” chants from Celtics fans on Tuesday night given that the Sixers were in control for most of the game, Sixers fans will likely be seeing more of those folks sooner than they’d like. I fear that there will be an irritating amount of Celtics fans in the building for Games 3 and 4 in South Philly.
It will be the weekend, so it’ll be easier for them to make the trip down here, to say nothing of the bandwagon fans who exist in the region. Add in the fact that Sixers fans are fairly burnt out on the team, Game 2 victory aside, and that Boston has championship aspirations with their squad and we could be in store for a little too much green in the Xfinity Mobile Arena crowd.
I hope that’s not the case, but, naturally, I’m always fearing the worst!
