Celtics Looking to Maintain Same Anger in Game 3 vs. 76ers

The Celtics were angry on Wednesday night when they hosted the 76ers. They are looking for similar results in Game 3.

Despite shooting at an efficient rate in Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, the Boston Celtics couldn’t finish the job as a masterful James Harden performance led to a tight Sixers win.

After the Game 1 loss, the Celtics admitted they were angry, describing themselves as “pissed off” for dropping Game 1 against the shorthanded Sixers that missed their MVP candidate Joel Embiid.

The Celtics proved they could take that negative feeling from Game 1, bottle it up, and apply it in a positive way for Game 2 on Wednesday night.

Despite the Sixers getting Embiid back in the fold, fresh off his MVP victory, the positive vibes surrounding the Sixers weren’t enough them to waltz back into TD Garden and make it a 2-0 series.

The Celtics punched back — and they punched back with a haymaker. Through the first half of action, Boston led the Sixers 57-49. Although they were already in control of the matchup, leading by as many as 12 points, the Celtics didn’t really show their best hand until the third quarter.

Knocking down nearly 50 percent of their threes in the third quarter, the Celtics outscored the Sixers 35-16 coming out of the half. Going up by as many as 29 points, Boston caused the Sixers to throw in the towel by the fourth quarter.

“I’m convinced that we have a great locker room and a great team, and when we play to our level, we have a chance to win,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said after Wednesday’s game.

The Celtics bounced back in a big way. After coming up short to the Sixers, the Celtics dropped Game 2 by losing 121-87. 

Although they evened the series and got their revenge, the Celtics hope to maintain that Game 2 anger while heading into a hostile environment on the road in Game 3.

“I think we just gotta take more pride in ourselves,” said Celtics standout Jaylen Brown. “You know, and that's it. We just feel like we underperformed last game, and we want to come out and play to the best of our ability. And that's what we did [on Wednesday].”

“We responded, we were resilient,” added Malcolm Brogdon. “I thought it started with JB. He set the tone. It's about setting the tone for the next game. This is one game. They came out and played a great game in the first one. James played great. I thought tonight we flipped the script. We did a great job on him and a great job overall, but that’s one game. It doesn't mean anything if there's no carryover.”

The Sixers and the Celtics are set to battle it out for Game 3 on Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The two teams will tip off at 7:30 PM ET.