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WALTHAM, Mass. – Things are beginning to heat up between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers as their second-round matchup wears on. Trash talk and physicality have both been on the rise, and that has corresponded with an increase in personal and technical fouls.
C’s coach Brad Stevens understands that such enhanced aggression can be expected during a postseason series, but he also doesn’t want his players to let it get the best of them.
“Every series gets chippy when you’re playing a team five straight times,” Stevens said Wednesday morning ahead of shootaround at the team’s training facility. “I mean, all of us that play open-gym get chippy after playing five straight games. It’s just the way it goes.
“I think you have to play with a chip,” added the coach. “But you have to play with poise. There’s a fine line.”
There were a few times that the Celtics crossed that line Monday night during Game 4, as they committed 28 personal fouls and were whistled for three technical fouls. They know that they will have to slightly dial back their chippiness during Game 5, but not to the point where they lose their edge.
“We’ve gotta find that balance, and that’s the tricky part,” said Terry Rozier, who committed one of the aforementioned technicals during Game 4 while skirmishing with Joel Embiid. “As you could see, we had a lot of guys in foul trouble in the first half (of Game 4), and then you’ve gotta start being careful with the things you do. But it’s just part of the game. You’ve just gotta be smart with it. It’s not easy, but you’ve gotta make it work.”
Boston shouldn’t have an issue making it work, because it has already proven that it can. The C’s are freshly removed from a seven-game series against the Milwaukee Bucks that featured plenty of trash talk and physicality on both sides. Boston didn’t let any of that to go too far, however, as it was able to collectively maintain composure to pull away with a first-round victory.
The fact that they learned how to manage their collective sense of self-control during that series should be of aid during this series, as the C’s look to recuperate from their Game 4 loss and close out the 76ers as soon as possible.
“I think that all of the experiences help us,” said Stevens. “I thought that the Milwaukee series has helped us in a lot of ways as we’ve moved through this one. We’ve got to be able to bounce back now from a game where we got beat. It’s hard. It’s hard to win any game, but it’s certainly hard to win against a really good team in the Playoffs.”
The 76ers were the more aggressive team during Game 4, and they were able to establish an edge while not losing their cool.
Boston is making it a priority Wednesday night to overcome Philly’s tenacity out of the gate, as it looks to defend home court with a series-clinching win.
“We just gotta beat it,” Rozier said of Philadelphia's physicality. “We’ve gotta come out aggressive from the jump tonight and we gotta let that be known.”
With that being said, the C’s can’t let their emotions get the best of them like they did on occasion during Game 4.
“You’ve gotta be poised because you’ve still gotta hold the lead when you’re being physical,” said Rozier. “You don’t want the game to get carried away. So, definitely poise comes into play, but we also gotta be the tougher team and set the rules tonight.”