BOSTON 鈥� Joe Mazzulla had a message for the media when he took a seat behind his pregame podium: Don鈥檛 expect Game 2 of Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers to be a repeat of Game 1.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 going to be a much more difficult challenge,鈥� Boston鈥檚 head coach said Tuesday evening. 鈥淚 expect a better version of the Sixers.鈥�
He got one.
Two days after losing by 32 points in the first-round series opener, Philadelphia punched back against the heavily favored Celtics, winning 111-97 at TD Garden to pull even in the best-of-seven.
The biggest change for the Sixers? Far more efficient shooting. They more than quadrupled their number of made 3-pointers, going 19 for 39 from deep after a 4 for 23 in Game 1. The backcourt duo of rookie VJ Edgecombe (30 points, 10 rebounds) and All-Star Tyrese Maxey (29 points, nine assists) combined for 11 of Philly鈥檚 3s. Paul George added 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting for a Philly team that again played without former NBA MVP center Joel Embiid (appendectomy).
Boston got a near-triple-double from Jayson Tatum (19 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists) and 36-7-4 from Jaylen Brown, but its secondary scorers struggled.
As a team, the Celtics shot 26% from 3 (13 for 50), their sixth-worst mark of the season. They trailed by two with six minutes remaining before an 11-0 Sixers run put the game out of reach.
Brown brought the Garden crowd to its feet early with a ferocious dunk over Adem Bona, who started at center for Philly in Embiid鈥檚 absence.
Then, the Sixers found their stroke from 3-point range, and the Celtics got sloppy. After missing its first six attempts from beyond the arc, Philly hit its next five straight 鈥� more than it made in all of Game 1 (four).
The loss ensured there will be a Game 5 back in Boston next Tuesday. Game 4 is Sunday night in Philadelphia.