Sixers Dominate Game 5: In The Process We Trust

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49–36, and more importantly, they were out coached.Doc Rivers put on a clinic in front of Joe Mazzulla and his former team. He switched Philadelphia’s defensive scheme from man to man, to zone, then back to man to man, then back to zone. There was no rhyme or reason to this defensive strategy other than to confuse the hell out of Boston’s offense. And it actually worked. Doc had Mazzulla so confused, that Mazzulla ended up putting Peyton Pritchard in the game for some “motivation and new looks”.<figure id="5404"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*ToJMFVBbq1Ao6h7PXvZj9A.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Don’t ever disrespect Philly like that again Mazzulla. Doc also switched the rotations, giving Danuel House Jr his first meaningful minutes of the series which paid off for Philly. House finished the game with 10 points and 5 rebounds.Besides being out matched from start to finish, Boston couldn’t do anything to stop Philadelphia from making shots. Maxey ended the game with a series high 30

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points, and went 6/12 from the three point line. The second best three point shooter of the night was Joel Embiid who went 3/7. No, that’s not a typo. The big body MVP was showing glimpses of Steph Curry last night.<figure id="9fe0"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*ETyuMfd0uLPykkryRm2FIQ.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The Sixers didn’t need another big scoring game from James Harden, who finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists. They didn’t need massive points from the bench. They just needed everyone to do their job at the highest level, and that’s exactly what they did.With the series heading back to Philly for Game 6 tomorrow night, the Sixers have to be even more locked in than they were tonight. The C*ltics are going to be play like the most desperate team left in the playoffs. That will either work in Philadelphia’s favor, or it means that the Sixers will have to go shot for shot with them. Either way, it feels good to be on top for a day.Go Sixers</article></body>

Sixers Dominate Game 5: In The Process We Trust

For the first time since 2001, the Sixers won a second round playoff Game 5 on the road. I tend to shy away from using these weirdly specific stats to celebrate a team’s accomplishments, but this one meant a lot for Philadelphia. Vegas has the C*ltics as 7 point favorites, and every “NBA analyst” on the TV was already mourning the death of The Process. Nobody gave the Sixers a fighting chance.

With nothing to lose, Philly went into Boston and played some of the best basketball I’ve seen from this team in a long time. As fellow Sixers’ fan Kevin Malone once said …

It felt like everything went right for the Sixers, including everything going wrong for Boston. The C*ltics ended Game 5 with a series low field goal and three point percentage of 40% & 32% respectively. They were out rebounded by Philly 49–36, and more importantly, they were out coached.

Doc Rivers put on a clinic in front of Joe Mazzulla and his former team. He switched Philadelphia’s defensive scheme from man to man, to zone, then back to man to man, then back to zone. There was no rhyme or reason to this defensive strategy other than to confuse the hell out of Boston’s offense. And it actually worked. Doc had Mazzulla so confused, that Mazzulla ended up putting Peyton Pritchard in the game for some “motivation and new looks”.

Don’t ever disrespect Philly like that again Mazzulla. Doc also switched the rotations, giving Danuel House Jr his first meaningful minutes of the series which paid off for Philly. House finished the game with 10 points and 5 rebounds.

Besides being out matched from start to finish, Boston couldn’t do anything to stop Philadelphia from making shots. Maxey ended the game with a series high 30 points, and went 6/12 from the three point line. The second best three point shooter of the night was Joel Embiid who went 3/7. No, that’s not a typo. The big body MVP was showing glimpses of Steph Curry last night.

The Sixers didn’t need another big scoring game from James Harden, who finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists. They didn’t need massive points from the bench. They just needed everyone to do their job at the highest level, and that’s exactly what they did.

With the series heading back to Philly for Game 6 tomorrow night, the Sixers have to be even more locked in than they were tonight. The C*ltics are going to be play like the most desperate team left in the playoffs. That will either work in Philadelphia’s favor, or it means that the Sixers will have to go shot for shot with them. Either way, it feels good to be on top for a day.

Go Sixers