Sixers face familiar fate as C's, Tatum dominate

BOSTON -- Since the Philadelphia 76ers took down the Celtics in a Game 7 at the old Boston Garden in 1982, the two division rivals have squared off six times in the playoffs. Each time, Boston has emerged victorious.

And though plenty of caveats apply after the Celtics cruised to victory over the 76ers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series Sunday, it's going to take a lot for Philadelphia to avoid that streak going to seven.

"That was Celtics basketball," Celtics star Jaylen Brown said after Sunday's 123-91 win. "We've been a hard-playing team all year; that can't change now that the playoffs have started. But then it's just focusing in, honing in on the details and just winning the fight. Being the harder-playing team and just guarding.

"Our offense can't win us this series. I mean, our offense is important, but we got to make sure we guard. And I think tonight we did a great job."

To say this was a one-sided affair is an understatement. Philadelphia shot 2-for-16 from 3 in the first half and 4-for-23 for the game while allowing Boston to create a 22-3 edge in points off turnovers. That's the opposite of the recipe an underdog playing without a star in Joel Embiid must follow to make this series competitive.

Boston, meanwhile, got wherever it wanted as it led wire-to-wire, at one point pushing the lead to as many as 35 points. Jayson Tatum led the way with a stellar performance, including 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting with 11 rebounds and seven assists in 32 minutes.

Sunday's game was the latest step in what continues to be an impressive return to play from a torn Achilles tendon for Tatum after making his season debut here against the Dallas Mavericks on March 6.

After he slowly ramped his minutes up over the closing weeks of the regular season, including playing 39 in a win over Charlotte and a loss in his return to New York, Tatum looked like someone who had hardly missed any time.

"It's part of the process," Tatum said of continuing to be asked about his recovery. "It will forever be a part of my story, and obviously it's still fresh. Forty-eight weeks [since the injury] this past Tuesday, so no, I don't get sick of it.

"I understand the magnitude of the injury and the narrative around me coming back, and everything in between. I'm proud of what I've been able to accomplish and return to play, and all those things. There were many days where I wasn't even sure I was going to play this season, let alone get a chance to play today, so I'm overly just kind of grateful that I'm in this position right now."

Boston is in the position it was supposed to be after Game 1: with a win in hand and control of the series. The goal is to carry that momentum to Game 2 Tuesday night, when it has a chance to put Philadelphia in a hole that would be difficult to escape.

"A lot went wrong, that's for sure," 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. "I thought from the second quarter to about midway through the third, we finally got ourselves underneath us a little bit and played pretty good basketball.

"But the minutes around that was absolutely unacceptable."

Embiid, who underwent an emergency appendectomy in Houston on April 9, remains out indefinitely. He made his first appearance around the team since the surgery Wednesday, sitting on the bench during Philadelphia's 109-97 victory over the Orlando Magic in the 7-8 play-in game. He remained in Philadelphia on Sunday to continue his recovery.

The goal for the 76ers is to extend the series as long as they can to improve whatever chances exist of Embiid's return.

For Philadelphia, the first order of business will be to start making shots. The formula for an underdog to pull an upset in today's NBA is to make 3-pointers and have its star be the best player on the court.

Not only did the 76ers not make shots (or even take many 3s), but Tyrese Maxey had a pedestrian game (21 points on 8-for-21 shooting and eight assists) that lagged behind Brown (26 points) and Tatum.

"The weird part about it is we kind of got some good looks," Maxey said. "We just missed wide-open 3s. But the defense, we had a lot of defensive breakdowns, a lot of stuff that we went over, that can't happen."

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla warned his team to prepare for a better version of the Sixers in Game 2.

"We have to have an understanding of -- I thought we got off to a good start in the series, and 2, it really doesn't matter anymore, because in 48 hours we have to do it again, and you expect a better version of both," Mazzulla said. "We have to expect a better version of both our opponent and ourselves."