BOSTON – (Wire Service Preview) – The Boston Celtics will strive to build on a dominant playoff-opening rout of Philadelphia when they host the 76ers for Game 2 tonight. The Celtics, the Eastern Conference’s second seed, pounced on Philadelphia in Sunday’s Game 1 matchup behind the star tandem of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Brown scored 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the floor, while Tatum — playing in just his 17th overall game since returning last month from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon — finished with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished seven assists.
“Just the opportunity to play again here (in Boston) in the playoffs is special,” Tatum said. “It’s something I’ll never take for granted.”
Tatum and his Celtics capitalized on their first opportunity in front of the Boston faithful immediately, building an 18-point lead by halftime.
The Celtics held the Sixers to just 35-of-90 field-goal shooting (38.9%) and a woeful 4-of-23 from 3-point distance (17.4%), showing off the same defensive prowess they exhibited in the regular season.
Boston went into the playoffs allowing a league-low 107.2 points per game while holding opponents to 44.2% shooting from the floor, second-lowest in the NBA.