Boston Celtics take Game 1 over Philadelphia 76ers behind Rozier, Horford, Tatum scoring

The Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 117-101 in Game 1 of NBA Playoff's second round! The Celtics played consistently on both ends of the floor all night, and were led by Terry Rozier, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford, who each put in greater than 25 points on the night.

To Celtics' fans delight, the game opened with an episode of the Jayson Tatum/Terry Rozier Show. It was clear that the offense was geared towards their scoring at the start. Heck, it seemed like the other starters were being straight passive. Rozier and Tatum shot a combined 5-for-11 from the field in the quarter. The other starters: a mere 1 make on 5 attempts.

Rozier led the way for the Cs after one with 10 points and 6 rebounds. Tatum had had 7 points, and Marcus Morris produced off of the bench by adding 6 points and 4 rebounds.


Terry ended the quarter with some flash.

Celtics led after one 25-22.

The Celtics started the second quarter slowly, but kept themselves alive with their three-point shooting. In the second quarter, they shot a total of 10 three-pointers, hitting five of them. Here's two consecutive, first from a wide-open Marcus Morris, and then from Semi Ojeleye off of the turnover.


Midway through the quarter, Al Horford showed again in these playoffs why he is worth the money. He went back into his arsenal and pulled out one of his Bucks' series favorites: the fadeaway jumper. A vibrant rainbow over Joel Embiid.

The next series, he utilized the mismatch and bullied his way to the slam dunk.

The playoff intensity is already prevalent in the series! Danny Ainge gave the referee his two cents after a debatable Al Horford foul call under the basket. Mike Gorman seemed to be entertained in the background...


Jayson Tatum dropped 9 points in the quarter, making his halftime total 16 points. Al Horford went 4-for-5 from the field in the second and had 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists after 24 minutes. Terry Rozier finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

The Celtics were out-rebounded on the offensive glass from when the ball was tipped until the half-time buzzer sounded. They grabbed 2 to Philly's 8. Dario Saric and Ersan Ilyasova had 3 apiece. The Sixers shot poorly in the half, though. They hit just 37% from the field and 20% from deep.

Joel Embiid finished the half with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists. JJ Redick added 10, and Ben Simmons put in 8 points to go along with a game-leading 4 turnovers.

Celtics retained their first quarter lead. After the half, it was 56-45 Boston's way.

The Celtics third-degree hands continued to stay hot in the third. Their first two buckets in the quarter came from behind the arc. The first came from Marcus Smart, who after going 0-8 versus the Bucks, hit his first deep-ball of the playoffs. Scary Terry drained his fourth three of the game from the corner soon after.

Joel Embiid was the belle of the third-quatrter-ball. He consistently went strong to the hoop, and pulled off some Hakeem-Olajuwon-type moves in the post. I hate to compliment the enemy but my goodness, he is fun to watch. He scored 11 in the third, bringing his total at the time to 24 points and 11 rebounds.



Al Horford would again, however, make plays all around the court to help the Celtics keep their lead. He only missed once in the quarter, scoring 9 points, making his total at the time 21. Here's a Tom Bra.. or shall I say, Drew Bledsoe long-court pass to the wide-open Jayson Tatum for the slam.

Followed by a dinger from deep.

Oh yeah, did you hear? Marcus Smart is back.

Celtics headed into the fourth quarter up 87-75.

Terry Rozier just keeps making Danny Ainge look more and more like a genius with his 16th overall selection back in 2015. Rozier has become so confident when having the ball in his hands on offense. Here, he parts the defense and takes the two points for himself.

Down the stretch in the fourth, Big Money Al continued to come up clutch with his jump shooting, matching every shot and taking back every inch that the Sixers gained.

The Sixers continued their poor shooting, and ended the night only hitting 19.2% of their three-pointers.

The three stars of the game for the Celtics, Horford, Tatum, and Rozier didn't give-in throughout the game's finals twelve minutes, and the Celtics took Game 1 convincingly.

Tatum finished with 28 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Horford dropped 26 points on 10-12 shooting, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Terry Rozier had the team's high with 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Let's go!

As for the Sixers, Embiid led the way with 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists. Simmons picked it up late in the game and tallied 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. JJ Redick added 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, and Dario Saric put-in 12 points with 5 offensive rebounds.

Final score: 117-101

Time to get groovy! GINO!

Numbers to Notice:

Marcus Smart: 9 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists
Mook Morris: 11 points, 5 rebounds
Shane Larkin: 5 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists
Semi Ojeleye: 3 points
Aron Baynes: 6 points, 6 rebounds

 Game 2 will be back in the Garden on Thursday night at 8:30 ET.

Follow Sean Waukewan

Photo: NBC Sports

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