Kendrick Perkins credited the Celtics’ defensive performance in Game 2 win vs. 76ers
"They approached this game like it was Game 7 for them."
The Celtics tied the Eastern Conference semifinals with a convincing 121-87 win over the 76ers at TD Garden on Wednesday. The series now heads to Philadelphia tied 1-1. Game 3 gets underway on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Red Sox also won on Wednesday, topping the Blue Jays 8-3 for a fifth consecutive win. The two teams conclude the four-game series at Fenway Park this evening at 6:10 p.m.
Kendrick Perkins on the Celtics’ Game 2 performance: After falling 119-115 to the 76ers in Game 1, the Celtics struck back with an impressive display in Game 2.
One factor in Boston’s turnaround was a major uptick in the defensive performance, even as 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid made his series debut for Philadelphia (having missed Game 1 with an injury).
In total, the 76ers were held to shooting just 6-of-30 from three-point range.
Reflecting on the game, ESPN basketball analyst (and former Celtics center) Kendrick Perkins singled out the defensive effort.
“I have to give props when props are due,” said Perkins. “The Celtics completely turned it up on the defensive end. When you have athletic wings and guards like Malcolm Brogdon, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, guys of that nature, even Derrick White and Marcus Smart, you’re supposed to be an elite defensive team.
“I thought tonight they made the 76ers play on their heels all night long,” Perkins continued. “They were the instigators and not the retaliators, and I thought that got them a lot of easy baskets and they were able to get out in transition.”
The Celtics’ mentality also impressed Perkins. Boston dropped Game 1 at home, but responded with proper urgency.
“They approached this game like it was Game 7 for them,” Perkins noted. “They knew they had to get this game and they came out with the right mindset. We know this team is going to score points. They’re talented, but when they lock in on the defensive side of things, they have shown us — last year — that they’re capable of going to the NBA Finals.”
Trivia: Kendrick Perkins’s career playoff high in points scored was 18, which he recorded in Game 5 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals during the Celtics’ run to the NBA Championship. Perkins wasn’t actually Boston’s leading scorer that night. Can you name the player who was?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He was the fifth overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft.
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Malcolm Brogdon gave credit to Jaylen Brown for helping the Celtics get off to a good start in Game 2:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit another impressively long home run:
On this day: In 1939, Ted Williams played his first career game in Detroit. He hit two home runs, each notable for being towering shots. The first, coming in the fourth inning, landed on the roof in right field. The second, coming one inning later, was even more impressive.
Given the green light on a 3-0 count, Williams crushed a low fastball.
“It was a climbing liner — as much of a liner as a drive could be which cleared a 120-foot barrier straight as a string, over the whole works in right field, about a dozen feet fair,” wrote Boston Globe reporter Gerry Moore. “According to eye-witnesses outside the park, it landed across adjoining Trumbull Avenue and bounded against a taxi company garage on the other side on the first hop.”
It was seen at the time by Detroit writers as the longest home run ever hit at the Detroit ballpark (then known as Briggs Stadium). It would take 17 years before anyone else would hit a home run out of the stadium, when it was accomplished by Mickey Mantle.
Daily highlight: Zac Zyons made an incredible leaping catch to help Bryant defeat Merrimack 8-4 on Wednesday.
Trivia answer: Kevin Garnett
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