For the better part of the last decade, the Golden State Warriors were able to dominate the NBA on the strength of switch-heavy small-ball lineups. Unfortunately for the Boston Celtics, that strategy hasn’t worked to beat some of their potential Eastern Conference playoff foes–including the Philadelphia 76ers, who had their number again on Thursday night.
After losing to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday on the road, the C’s had an excellent chance to right the ship with a home match-up against the only team to defeat them by double digits in 2019-20. Joel Embiid had other ideas.