LeBron to Philly. Which team do you think gives him the best chance to win a chip next season considering Joel stays relatively available, missing about 15 games.
Keeping fingers crossed that PG passes that physical, you can never trust Boston.
Only Philly can provide complete happiness to LeBron. There’s no better fanbase or city.
What if our newest jewel was a harbinger for the King?
Joel put it out into the Universe 12 years ago yesterday.
He’ll be loved like nowhere else from Day 1 and he’ll put them over the top and become the unquestioned Goat over MJ for achieving the impossible!
Feels like the yearning was a lot greater in those films. Any of the Meg Ryan movies hit the spot. I don’t know if it was a Nora Ephron style of writing and wit that brought that about. Maybe it was somewhat of a more relaxed time in our culture. Does anyone else feel the same way?
They’ve already won in my eyes for being .500 in the series on their court without Embiid and being 2-1 while readjusting to a recovering Embiid trying to come back and give us some help.
This whole season they’ve fought and never given up, that’s a testament to the coaches, leaders like Lowry and the character of these players. I haven’t been so proud of a Sixers team since the 2001 Sixers going to the Finals with Iverson and role players.
Big shout out to Nick Nurse for never losing the team & players despite of the struggles and so many injuries.
Even throughout this series, they’re evolving and finding the best style of play that makes them multiple in regards to getting the best out of every player on offense and following the game plan on defense.
Yes, the pressure is higher but it only gets more intense in the next round, so if they’re hoping to advance then this is the perfect environment to play in and see if they can get in a zone in the midst of utter pandemonium.
Thanks for a great season and looking forward to the final act of this series today!
What is your excitement level for this game and who do you think will take over for us today and lead us to victory?
Let’s go!
Boston body language is horrible. They know they’re cooked. If we work on cleaning up our efficiency on fast breaks and not continuously running the offense through Embiid like we tried in the 1st quarter, while everyone was just stuck at the 3 point line, we can get everyone clicking and hitting on all cylinders.
PG played lights out. Oubre was all over the place while getting mauled by Jaylen Brown. Maxey was Maxey and VJ made plays when he had the opportunity. Joel is still not a 100% but he’s trying and giving it his all. He mostly made the right decisions out of the double team highlighted by the behind the back pass. Edwards made a couple of plays in limited time. Grimes cooled down and missed his 3s (0-3 with 2 points). Drummond set great screens again, played yeoman like on defense and almost got that 3 to fall.
Only thing that really stood out for improvement was that we look lost on fast breaks, almost not expecting the opportunities. But some mistakes are expected when you’re at a crossroads you didn’t expect to be in. Now Game 7, after clawing back against the favorites to come out of the East, is totally uncharted territory and it’s going to be pandemonium at the TD Garden on Saturday at 7:30!
Couple things we know about the Celtics is that they play lowkey dirty and are constantly getting away with fouls which is a sort of a mental advantage they have on teams. You know the refs are not gonna give us anything on Saturday on their court in front of their fans. So hopefully we take advantage of what we can take advantage of (easy buckets) while still making our case for the push offs and fouls. Pritchard got away with a call on George, leading to a turnover and Tatum/Brown got away with multiple push offs even if the refs have called a couple.
Only thing we can control is continuing to put things together and not thinking about elimination or final game for both teams and how desperate Boston will play, or the refs. You still have to not be too nervous or amped up and get into playing your style of basketball right from the jump. The biggest thing is nerves. If they can somehow get over this hump they’ve had in the playoffs, I think we’ll be really happy to advance and prove to ourselves finally that we can succeed in the playoffs. Taking down Boston is no small feat.
If you’ve watched the movie American Sniper, they talk about how the heartbeat has to be so calm while shooting. We know MJ, Kobe etc all had their meditative, zen place they got into before the game. If Joel can take that next step and bring the rest of the team along with him in playing in that zone, the sky is the limit for this team! Can’t really think about who’s up next because then we get too far ahead of ourselves. I feel like we won game 6 on pure adrenaline, game 7 will require a different approach - letting it all slow down while outwardly playing at playoff speed.
This is the next and final step in their maturation process. If Joel can do that, he won’t have a 6-18 night and won’t look out of sorts on offense. I disagree with Shaq that Joel should only play down low and not shoot any 3s. He’s a 3 level scorer, he just has to use his feel for when to do what. We don’t have elite 3 pt shooters where Joel can just kick it out and it’s a bucket! Try changing things up and run the ball through PG as he’s our best and healthiest player right now. I trust him to make the right decisions early on while the rest of the team settles down.
Don’t make the moment too big, if you play your game, their crowd will settle down. Block out that it’s in Boston or in front of a crazy fanbase. Make the game as normal as possible. Even if you lose, you get to leave with your head held high, we’re all proud of the players, coaches and the team in general after this showing. But if you win, you finally get the Boston monkey off your back after 40+ years of humiliation and struggle.
If we can prepare ourselves for the game 7 environment and all the naysayers that say that you don’t belong on the floor with the Celtics and definitely don’t deserve to win game 7, then we’ll be at peace with the pressure of this game. Once we’re at peace, we can just ball out and put our best game together so the next round opponent won’t come in as overconfident as Boston did.
Boston isn’t coming here to lose. They wanna humiliate us on our home court and get some rest before the next series. That’s what they thought was gonna happen in game 5. But they definitely don’t want to extend it to game 7 and then turn around and play the Knicks with no rest. They’re gonna come in locked in to their game plan for a full 48 and wait for us to blink. They’ve done it twice and blown us out and pulled out a close win too. The two times we’ve won, they came in a bit too overconfident and thought they were gonna have it easy. They’re not coming in with that attitude for game 6 in Philly. And they’re 2-0 on our home court so they’re definitely comfortable on our court & in front of our fans.
So what’s the solution?
You have to have the best 1st quarter you’ve played all season and then not get too cocky and keep the intensity high for the whole game. For that it can’t be just a recovering Embiid scoring 30 or one of our other stars trying to play a supporting role, but everyone has to be locked in from the starting whistle and play your best game. If this is going to be your last game of the season, you have to play your best game of the season. There should only be excitement and no nervousness, you wanna end the season with a bang so you don’t have any regrets all offseason.
We’re already encouraged by their effort and moxie, so there’s nothing to hang your head about. Give the fans the best game they’ve seen you play ever and we’ll be satisfied no matter what happens! Involve everyone early & often and make them feel part of the offense and also because you don’t want Boston to lock in on Embiid & be too reliant on him and lose because of that strategy. Stay one step ahead and give them a lot to think about.
Boston is the hardest working and most focused team in the NBA even if they’re not as talented this season and with a recovering Tatum not at full strength. But Pritchard can kill you on any night along with their other role players. They have the pride of a champion so they’re gonna come in pulling out all the stops, complaining to the refs, controlling the tempo. Only solution is everyone involved early and often and playing the 1st quarter like it’s the last. You can’t wait to set the tone because you might be down by 20 before you know it, if they come in locked in and you’re not playing with their intensity.