The Clover Report: Week Thirty
It was a very busy week for the Celtics so let’s get right into it. With the Celtics leading 1-0 against the Philadelphia 76ers, Game 2 was an important one to decide the series. The 76ers took a big lead in the 2nd quarter but it didn’t last long. The Celtics pulled away in the 3rd quarter and won 108—103 to take a 2-0 series lead. Jayson Tatum led the way with 21 points and Terry Rozier added 20 points and 9 assists. Jaylen Brown also returned from his injury and scored 13 points off of the bench. The key to the game was the 3 point game as the Celtics hit 15 total to help win the game.
Game 3 was going to be much tougher as the series now shifted to Philadelphia. This game was a barn burner from the get go. As you see from the video below, the game had a frantic finish as well. After taking the lead off of a Jaylen Brown layup, Marco Belinelli tied the game at the buzzer. Hilariously, the Sixers thought they won and dropped confetti. It came back to bite them as the Celtics won 101—98. They won on their first road game of the post season to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Tatum had another fantastic game as he scored 24 points on 11-17 from the floor. It was the best win of the year by far.
Game 4 was a game that I never thought that the Celtics would win and that proved to be the case Monday night. The Sixers were playing for their lives and the Celtics had room for error. It natural for a team not to come in as hungry. The Sixers won going away 103—92 as they won their first game of the series. Dario Saric led the way with 25 points and Ben Simmons finally came alive with 19 points and 13 rebounds. The series was headed back to Boston.
Finally, we have last night’s Game 5. With the Celtics back at home, it was expected that they would close out the series and advance to the East Finals. The 76ers didn’t make it easy as this game went down to the wire. It was an absolute thriller of a game as there were 20 plus lead changes. But thanks to a few key plays down the stretch, the Celtics won the game 114—112 and won the series 4-1. Jayson Tatum continued his hot streak as he finished with 25 points and extended his 20 point streak to 7 straight games. Jaylen Brown returned to the starting lineup and scored 24 points on 10-13 from the floor.
After beating the Milwaukee Bucks in 7 games and the Philadelphia 76ers in 5 games, the Boston Celtics are headed back to the Eastern Conference Finals. That is a sentence I thought I would never say after Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward went down with season ending injuries. I am so proud to be a Celtics fan because no matter who is hurt and no matter how bad it may look; the Celtics never give up. That is a credit to the genius that is Brad Stevens and a credit to the organization as a whole. It’s on to the East Finals where LeBron James is waiting once again.
Steve Santoro (SVS_1993)
