76ers Continue ‘Locking All Windows And Doors’ In Series Against Celtics

They say defense wins championships, and the 76ers are proving that narrative correct as they won back-to-back games against the Celtics to force a Game 7.

Call it a Celtics choke or a 76ers domination, but the 76ers have found a way to storm back into the series, giving themselves a winner-take-all Game 7 in Boston on Saturday night with an opportunity to take on the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The comeback from the 76ers can be attributed to a multitude of things. The return of Joel Embiid, the adjustment of the way the offense is running, or even the continued great play from the third and fourth options, Paul George and VJ Edgecombe.

However, a major difference maker has been their lockdown defense against the Celtics, preventing their high-powered offense from getting hot, forcing them to miss more threes and make tougher shots, while also cleaning up the boards and not allowing the Celtics to take multiple shots on a possession.

In Game 6, the Celtics shot 36-for-86 (42%) from the field overall and 12-for-41 (29%) from three. It’s the third time in this series that Boston has shot under 30% from three this series, the other two times coming in the other two 76ers wins. It’s showing you that when the 76ers can limit the amount of damage the Celtics can do from beyond the arc.

It’s paid big dividends as it shows you that Boston isn’t this overpowered super team that people have expected them to be this year. While they’re still great, they have flaws, and while at times they’re a three-point shooting juggernaut, 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey feels like the 76ers have done a great job of making them play uncomfortably.

“We’ve done a good job with just trying to take them out of what they do,” Maxey said. “They’re a good three-point shooting team, but sometimes you just gotta guard your yard, and we’ve been doing that.”

The tone of the 76ers has been infinitely better over these past few games, as they’ve put performances together that many thought weren’t possible after seeing how the first game of the series went. The 76ers were blown out, embarrassed, and made to look like little brothers once again.

But things have changed, and a big factor other than the better three-point defending has been the increased pressure on rebounds, especially on the defensive end. The Celtics have been known to be a great team when it comes to getting their rebounds from their misses, and we’ve seen it first thing this series multiple times. 76ers guard Edgecombe spoke postgame about what a great rebounding team Boston is and how dominating the boards only helps their whole team succeed.

“They’re a great crashing team. You may not see it, but they’ll get tip-outs or just anything like that stuff that doesn’t show up on the statsheet, but it’s really good,” Edgecombe said. “We’ve tried our best to keep them off the glass. We don’t want them to get hot. That’s a team where when one person gets hot, everybody gets hot. We got to play with a lot of passion. Like I said, they’re a great team, so we’ve got to go there and just play hard.”

While the overall rebounding numbers don’t look dominant in the 76ers’ favor after Game 6, anyone who watched the game knows the 76ers were all over the floor tonight, grabbing rebounds, not letting the Celtics get multiple shots up on their offensive possessions. Both teams finished with eight offensive rebounds, but the Celtics only had one well into the third quarter, when the 76ers were up nearly 20 points and running away with the victory.

“I think guys are just doing a better job of checking out and moving a little quicker towards the long rebounds,” Nick Nurse said postgame. “We’re gonna have to give a tremendous effort again. I just think that the effort of getting back to guarding the ball and blocking out needs to be at a tremendously high level. I think whichever team does that in this series wins, and that’s what’ll be the goal.”

Having someone like Embiid in the middle has helped with the defensive effort as well, as it’s taken the pressure off the rest of the team to try to be perfect all the time, as Embiid helps cover their mistakes.

“I think in the first couple of games, instead of going towards [rebounds], we went towards the rim,” Embiid said. “Now I think we’ve been the first one to hit, and I think it’s made a big difference.”

Former 76ers play-by-play announcer Marc Zumoff had many sayings during his time calling games on TV, but one that I loved was whenever the 76ers forced a clamp or went a few possessions playing good defense against a team and not allowing points, he’d say that the 76ers are “locking all windows and doors.”

It was a play on the 76ers not allowing anyone to go anywhere on offense, locking down every exit. I’d like to think Zumoff is watching Philadelphia’s playoff run and current comeback against Boston, and over the past few games, I hope “locking all windows and doors” has come out of his mouth at least once.

If the 76ers continue to play this type of tight defense on Saturday, then not only will they have a chance to come back and secure the series win over the Celtics, but who knows where this sudden change in defense can take them. The East is still wide open, and the 76ers may just be gearing up for a late playoff run.

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