The Boston Celtics lost 115-119 to the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of the 2nd round of the 2023 NBA playoffs held at TD Garden in Boston on the 2nd (Korean time).
The first two games at home, and the absence of Philadelphia ace Joel Embiid. It was a game that had more good news for Boston.
As expected, Boston caught the flow from the first quarter. Jaylen Brown and Malcolm Brogdon combined for 24 points to take a 7-point lead. In the second quarter, ace Jayson Tatum scored 20 points to maintain the lead.
However, the atmosphere changed in the second half. Boston was unable to block the double guns of Tyrese Maxey and James Harden and allowed a chase.
The decisive scene came at the end of the fourth quarter. With 32.7 seconds left in the game, Boston was leading by one point. A situation where you can actually win if you score. At that time, Brokdon broke through and attempted a kickout pass. However, the player who received Brogdon’s pass was not a teammate, but Philadelphia’s Maxie.
Maxie made a turnaround with a quick dunk right away. It was the moment when Brokdon’s turnover led directly to defeat.
The strong defense that Boston boasts was also not well revealed on this day. Boston took a knee, giving 45 points, including 7 3-pointers, to Harden alone. In addition, he allowed Philadelphia a whopping 44.7% (17/38) of team 3-point success rate.ㅋㅋㅋ벳
In the postgame interview, Brogdon said, “I didn’t have a good defense in the last three or four minutes. Honestly, it was all night. In the beginning, I played well and adjusted my pace to get layups and open 3-point opportunities.” said.
He continued, “It didn’t come out like this in the second half. I played sloppily and committed a few turnovers. The opponent scored an easy score in the third quarter.”
Veteran big man Al Horford also explained, “I didn’t show any tension in the defense. I can say that the offense worked out well. However, the tension necessary for the defense was not maintained consistently.”
The second leg of the two teams will be held at the same place on the 4th. Attention is focusing on whether Boston can turn the series back to square one with the dignity of the second seed.