Philadelphia 76ers host Boston Celtics - Face elimination from playoffs in Game 6 – NBA Preview
The Boston Celtics will travel to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semi Finals on Wednesday.
Boston leads the series 3-2 and could send the Sixers packing with a win. The Sixers, on the other hand, are looking to force a game 7 back in Boston.
Sixers coach Doug Collins showed his team a film from the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers, with Julius Erving going up against Larry Bird. The Sixers were trailing 1-3 in the
series and came back to force a game 7.
Collins showed the film of game 7 to motivate the Sixers that a game 7 victory against the Celtics is possible and has been done before. More than that, he wanted them to get an idea about how big an impact is made when you beat
a great team in 7 games. The whole basketball world remembers you for years.
“We're on the edge right now. There's no comfortable feelings anywhere around here” said Sixers forward Elton Brand.
But, in order to play game 7 against the Celtics, the Sixers need to force game 7. And that can only be done with a win Wednesday night. The Celtics handed the Sixers a 101-85 smashing in game 5, in which the Sixers had a 6 point
lead early in the third quarter, but allowed Boston to score 14 of the next 16 points. The Celtics then went on to score 16 of the first 22 points of the final quarter which closed the game for the Sixers.
"Once we were able to run and get some easy baskets, just open it up, we fed off the crowd and never looked back” said Celtics forward Paul Pierce.
Paul Pierce had 16 points in the game 5 victory, while Brandon Bass scored 18 points in the third quarter alone to finish with a career high 27 points. Kevin Garnett was at his dangerous best as usual, scoring 20 points. Rajon
Rondo had 13 points and 14 assists, as he took over as the leader in the final periods of the game.
"I thought the second half was one of the best games he's had this year for us. I thought it was more than just the basketball part of it. I thought his will, his leadership, we needed it. And he gave it to us” said Rivers on Rondo’s
play in game 5.
The Sixers have nobody but themselves to blame for the loss. Andre Iguodala shot 3 of 10 from the field for his 8 points. Brand had a good night with 19 points. Spencer Hawes and Jrue Holiday had 10 points each while Evan Turner
added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
However, nobody from the Sixers line up had a big night to counter what the Celtics were doing offensively. Iguodala is the key of this line up and him putting up single digit numbers is not going to cut it for the Sixers.
The Sixers have not lost two games in a row so far in the playoffs. They are 4-0 after losing a game and hope to keep that streak alive in game 6 at home. The Sixers crowd will be looking to show full support to their team after
Kevin Garnett called them “fair-weather fans” in an interview after game 5.
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