AlwaysWrite
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[The following was written by Bill Herald, an award-winning sports columni[st and newspaper editor for five decades].
It could have been a sweep. It SHOULD have been a sweep.
It hasn't received much attention, but the Game 2 loss by the Boston Celtics was extremely important in the eventual seven-game series defeat at rhe hand of the Philadelphia 76ers. Indeed, it was extremely important.
After an expected Game 1 home-court victory, it was crucial for the Celtics to follow up with a Game 2 triumph. And here's why ...
* The 76ers played the first three in the best-of-seven series minus the services of former league MVP Joel Emblid. And although he would return for Game 4, the Celtics would logically have won Game 3, which they did, and in Emblid's return to action in Game 4, Boston won anyway, which would have completed a sweep.
* Think of the massive benefits of a sweep. In addition to advancing as expected, the Celtics would have earned a respit from rigorous playoff action while all other challengers would be expending themselves in attempts to move on.
* That Game 2 loss meant that Philadelphia would have Emblid available for Game 5, and Games 6 and 7, if necessary, and his dominant performances helped sink the Celtics. And obviously, a sweep wouldn't have required any of those games.
* A sweep would have given a big mental boost to the Celtics and help put some of the team's recent playoff disappointments -- such as losing three home games and being eliminated by the Miami Heat, and blowing a pair of 20-point leads en route to last season's ouster by the New York Knicks -- on the back burner. Now, this year's loss to the 76ers only serves to enhance the team's negative mindset regarding playoff collapses.
* Further, it's obvious that Jayson Tatum wouldn't have been injured, and he and the rest of the team would have been rested and ready to take on the Knicks in the next round in quest of greater and better things.
Now the Celtics and their disappoined fans can only think about what could have been, and some will remember the Game 2 loss that changed everything.
It could have been a sweep. It SHOULD have been a sweep.
It hasn't received much attention, but the Game 2 loss by the Boston Celtics was extremely important in the eventual seven-game series defeat at rhe hand of the Philadelphia 76ers. Indeed, it was extremely important.
After an expected Game 1 home-court victory, it was crucial for the Celtics to follow up with a Game 2 triumph. And here's why ...
* The 76ers played the first three in the best-of-seven series minus the services of former league MVP Joel Emblid. And although he would return for Game 4, the Celtics would logically have won Game 3, which they did, and in Emblid's return to action in Game 4, Boston won anyway, which would have completed a sweep.
* Think of the massive benefits of a sweep. In addition to advancing as expected, the Celtics would have earned a respit from rigorous playoff action while all other challengers would be expending themselves in attempts to move on.
* That Game 2 loss meant that Philadelphia would have Emblid available for Game 5, and Games 6 and 7, if necessary, and his dominant performances helped sink the Celtics. And obviously, a sweep wouldn't have required any of those games.
* A sweep would have given a big mental boost to the Celtics and help put some of the team's recent playoff disappointments -- such as losing three home games and being eliminated by the Miami Heat, and blowing a pair of 20-point leads en route to last season's ouster by the New York Knicks -- on the back burner. Now, this year's loss to the 76ers only serves to enhance the team's negative mindset regarding playoff collapses.
* Further, it's obvious that Jayson Tatum wouldn't have been injured, and he and the rest of the team would have been rested and ready to take on the Knicks in the next round in quest of greater and better things.
Now the Celtics and their disappoined fans can only think about what could have been, and some will remember the Game 2 loss that changed everything.