Between the roughly 520 miles of driving, and the two hours sitting on the upper deck press row of Xfinity Mobile Arena, around 95% of my Friday night was spent sitting down while the Celtics battled in a down-to-the-wire thriller against the 76ers.
The decision to drive from my apartment in Richmond, Virginia to South Philadelphia, and immediately head right back within a 24-hour period was ill-advised, and I kind of knew it.
But this is the postseason — it’s the perfect time to make rash decisions.
If I’m losing sleep over playoff basketball, I might as well do it because I’m there. From a 11:30 a.m. departure and an arrival back home at 3:30 a.m. Saturday, the entire day was spent in a sort of dream-like haze. You walk through the tunnel, and there Derrick White stands, signing autographs.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum breeze by the media for their postgame pressers, an hour after combining for 11 of the team’s 16 clutch points in front of a raucous Philadelphia crowd. There you are, witnessing a new chapter to one of the NBA’s greatest rivalries. That is why I made the drive.
The nighttime drive from Philadelphia to Richmond was a little over four hours on the road. Not terrible, especially with the Trail Blazers/Spurs radio broadcast to keep you company, but the drive from Richmond to Philadelphia was a slightly worse six and a half hours, featuring hours of stop-and-go traffic and a brief excursion into the heart of Baltimore that Google Maps deemed a “time-saving” maneuver.
During that drive, half of the time was spent on series-adjacent thoughts: how do the Celtics defend the Maxey pick-and-roll? How do the rotations change from Game 2? Can Jayson Tatum find his touch from beyond the arc?
The other half of the drive, spent on things like music and podcasts, ultimately evolved/devolved into basketball, in some way or another. I had spent a good chunk listening to Icelandic artist Björk for the first time (Her album Debut is incredible), which later turned into a bit where I tried my best to do an impression of Björk on the call with Mike Breen and Doris Burke (whether or not it was a good impression, I’ll leave to the imagination).
I also got to thinking about playoff hype videos. We all love them, we all need them. It’s the perfect way to usher in a playoff run, and luckily we’ve got tons of talented content creators out there that have perfected the craft. But what is the best one from this year for the Celtics?
For my money, it comes from @derekwkim (who I see on this blog pretty frequently!). This video, if you haven’t seen it, is absolutely Dy-no-mite. If this doesn’t get you absolutely locked in, check your pulse. It’s too good.
When I finally parked at Xfinity Mobile, I was in a hectic state. On one hand, the traffic was so bad, I only had about an hour to get acclimated with my surroundings. That meant no opportunity to watch shootarounds, take additional notes, or listen to Nick Nurse and Joe Mazzulla’s pre-game pressers.
On the other hand, for every 10 steps you walk, you’re hearing Celtics and Sixers fans just jaw at each other. A glorious rivalry, a tied up series, everyone is confident. This is what it’s all about. The atmosphere of a playoff game is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed.
This was my first live Celtics playoff game in any capacity, though it’s actually the second playoff game I’ve ever been to.
In 2024, a friend and I drove over 1,200 miles to Dallas, Texas for a spur of the moment road trip to see Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Mavericks and the Timberwolves. It was a great game, and an even greater atmosphere, just for the fact that Dallas was a game away from their first Finals appearance since 2011.
It was during that trip that I watched the Celtics clinch their second Finals appearance of the Jays era in possibly the seediest motel I’ve ever been in, so that gives me an interesting “where were you when the Celtics swept the Pacers?” experience for that championship season.
If anyone else answers “fearing for bedbugs in Dallas, Texas” that’s a pretty crazy coincidence.
In Philly, I was taking notes on a range of topics: pick-and-roll coverages, Maxey defenders, Jaylen Brown paint touches, to name a few.
I really didn’t interact too much with anyone near me during the game, although I was given a rare, naturally-occurring jumpscare from the older Philadelphia writer that sat beside me, who had a second screen on with the Phillies game and slammed his fist hard on the table after what I assume to be a costly error or game-losing play. Here I am locked in on a Tatum pick-and-roll only to be absolutely shaken by the absolute rage of this man. He, too, was locked in, just on something completely different from the other 19,016 people in attendance.
After watching an electric clutch performance from the Jays and hearing them speak in front of the media, I was off on the road back to Richmond. Now with a shorter, smoother ride, I spent the time thinking over what I just watched.
If you’re reading this, that probably means you’ve also read the many wonderfully-written articles from the blog’s staff about the finer details of this win. I don’t want to harp on too many more details with another game on Sunday, but consider this a 10 Takeaways microdose. We’ll call it 3 Takeaways.
1) Baylor Scheierman has made the most of his opportunities
There’s a clear need for Jordan Walsh to also have an established role in this series, and I understand playoff minutes are hard to come by with Jaylen and Jayson both averaging over 36 minutes, but Scheierman has been so good in his time on the floor this series. If there’s room to expand his minutes, I’d like to see it.
His 12 minutes on the floor felt like a sample of all the things he’s provided in the rotation this season. He hit a pair of threes, grabbed three boards, and hounded the ball on defense, coming away with two steals.
The versatility Scheierman presents, it just feels like it’s going to save the day at some point. He is simply built for the moment.
2) This was the clutch execution we needed to see
There was just something not quite right with how the Celtics offense ran in Game 2, even as they drew as close as two points from the Sixers in the fourth quarter. Too many stalled possessions down to the final seconds, too much overdribbling to make something happen, and of course, not enough shooting execution when they did get a good look.
Game 3 was not the case.
Not to say it was all perfect, after all Pritchard’s late three barely beat the shot clock on a well-defended possession, and the Sixers stuck around by attacking the basket, but through the pressure and the chaos, the Celtics were composed when it mattered.
While it’s not the most important shot of the fourth quarter, Tatum’s 3-pointer with two minutes left shows that composure completely. The Sixers sell out on taking away his drive, so much so that they dare Vooch to pull it from deep. He doesn’t force it, he doesn’t push the ball to the first option he sees, he takes a dribble inside the arc, forces a reaction to collapse onto him, then makes the best read possible by getting it back to Tatum.
And when Tatum took that extra dribble, you just knew that shot was going down. A smart play rewarded.
Clutch execution is an understandable concern with this group, but we saw that the team can shine when it gets down to those final, intense moments of a game. We absolutely needed to see a closeout like this.
3) We saw this core’s playoff experience at work
Joe Mazzulla had a quote that resonated with me when he was asked if the way the team closed out the win was a testament to Tatum and Brown’s playoff experience and leadership. To him, it shows up in other areas even before you reach the clutch stages of this game.
“I think it shows up in how you handle playoff losses, how you handle a bad game, how you handle winning,” he said. “I think the experience just kind of shows up in their poise on a day-to-day basis. Not getting too high, not getting too low, having a clear understanding of what’s at stake and what’s needed on a consistent basis. I thought you saw that tonight.”
It’s a realization that, to those who have followed this team since the very beginning of this era, before we even considered it an era of this duo, we have seen so many battles, so many postseason journeys, so many lessons learned. They’ve reached the top of the mountain, they suffered devastating defeat, and everything in between.
They’ve literally seen it all.
Game 3 was a nailbiter, but it’s not new to this duo. That experience matters.
It’s 3:30 a.m., and I’m finally back home. Face meets pillow, end of journey. Maybe next time I’ll book a flight.
