Game 2 in Boston last night was a significant opportunity for the Sixers. They’d beaten the Celtics in the series opener Monday and now, with their newly crowned MVP back in the lineup, they had a chance to go up 2–0 in the series before heading home to Philadelphia. But the Celtics put Monday’s stinker behind them and came away with an impressive 121–87 win to even the series.

The biggest difference, Chris Mannix writes, was Boston’s defensive turnaround. After allowing a combined 88 points by perimeter trio James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton in Game 1, the entire Sixers team scored only 87 last night.

The Celtics were frustrated after Monday’s loss. Angry, said Brogdon. “We [felt] like we should have won that game,” Brogdon said. On Wednesday, they played like it. They held Philadelphia to 39.2% shooting. They limited the Sixers to 20% from three. The return of Joel Embiid, the freshly minted MVP, proved to be a nonfactor. Embiid’s numbers (15 points, five blocks) were decent. But the Celtics, keenly aware of Embiid’s knee injury and conditioning issues that come with not playing for more than a week, tested the big man’s mobility often.

Harden was especially ineffective. After scoring 45 points in Game 1—his first 40-point game since he dropped 41 as a Net against Boston in the 2021 playoffs—Harden managed only 12 points on 2-of-14 shooting in his encore. But you can’t pin the loss solely on Harden’s off night or Embiid’s rustiness. The Boston defense smothered the Sixers. No Philadelphia player scored more than 16 points (Tobias Harris). After shooting 50.6% from the field and 44.7% from three as a team in Game 1, the Sixers made only 39.2% of their shots last night (20% from three).

So where does the series go from here? Boston’s offense has been consistently excellent throughout the playoffs, getting contributions from its role players in addition to the star duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. But the defense has had lapses. In addition to allowing 119 points to an Embiid-less Sixers team Monday, Boston also allowed 130 to the Hawks in Game 3 of that series. The defense was excellent last night, though, and if that version of the team keeps showing up, it might be a short series. We’ve come to expect the unexpected from this Celtics squad that’s loaded with championship potential, Chris Herring writes. So who knows what’s coming next?

Still, even with an abundance of talent, experience, solid health and, perhaps, the clearest remaining path to a crown, this confounding Boston club has repeatedly given us ample reason to question whether it has the will to win the title this season.

For the Sixers, it’s all about Embiid’s ability to pick up where he left off. It’s unclear how much he’s still feeling the effects of that knee injury and how quickly he’ll get back into game shape after sitting down for a week. The Celtics were able to effectively limit him last night, but they might not be able to hold him in check as he shakes off the rust.

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The best of Sports Illustrated

In today’s Daily Cover story, Pat Forde looks back on Secretariat’s remarkable Triple Crown run in 1973.
The deaths of four horses this week have cast a pall over preparations for the Kentucky Derby, Forde writes.
Gilberto Manzano ranks the five most likely first-round busts from the NFL draft.
Manzano and Matt Verderame looked at the remaining roster holes for all 32 NFL teams.
Tiger Woods’s caddy has a new bag this week on the PGA Tour, and it may stay that way for a while.
Randall Cobb is joining Aaron Rodgers and Allen Lazard at Lambeau East in East Rutherford.
Dillon Brooks’s agent took a shot at Shams Charania for reporting that his client won’t be returning to the Grizzlies.
Lionel Messi is reportedly set to leave PSG this summer and is reportedly negotiating a deal in Saudi Arabia worth $400 million per year.

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. Leon Draisaitl’s four-goal night for the Oilers. It was the second night in a row that an NHL player scored four goals in a game. Edmonton lost, though, as the Golden Knights scored three in the third period to win 6–4.

4. Max Muncy’s walk-off grand slam on the first pitch he saw from Craig Kimbrel.

3. Joel Embiid’s block on Jaylen Brown. (He sure looked healthy there, huh?)

2. Erling Haaland’s record-breaking 35th goal of the Premier League season.

1. Wander Franco’s fielding version of a bat flip.

SIQ

What was the final score when the Cincinnati Red Stockings played the first professional baseball game on this day in 1869?

1–0
12–2
28–26
45–9

Yesterday’s SIQ: This week in 1979, which MLB player became the second (after Willie Mays) to record 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases?

Bobby Bonds
Henry Aaron
Reggie Jackson
Jim Wynn

Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds’s friend and Barry’s godfather, was the first in the 300-300 club. In addition to those three, three other players who played for the Giants (Reggie Sanders, Steve Finley and Carlos Beltrán) also reached both milestones. Finley and Barry Bonds were lined up next to each other in the Giants’ outfield when Finley hit his 300th career homer June 14, 2006, to join the club. Just four days earlier, Sanders hit his 300th homer to put himself in the group.

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