In game one of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Philadelphia 76ers‘ wing defense played a major role in the team’s 117-101 loss. Perimeter players like Ben Simmons, Robert Covington, Marco Belinelli, and (sometimes) Dario Saric posted poor plus-minuses and had trouble containing the Celtics’ second-string squad.
The Celtics did not have Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, nor Jaylen Brown for the first game of the series, yet they still ran Philly out of the gym. Thanks to Belinelli’s plus-minus of -23, Simmons’ -21, Saric’s -20, and Covington’s -13, the Sixers simply looked inferior compared to Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier’s prolific scoring.