Marcus Smart fights through pain as angry Celtics crush 76ers in MVP Joel Embiid’s return

BOSTON — The Celtics knew they had one chance to take advantage of the MVP’s absence, but they blew it. The Philadelphia 76ers knew they were starting this series with their backs against the wall and pounced.

“There’s a frustration, there’s an anger,” Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon said Wednesday morning. “We felt like we were supposed to win that game. We feel like we’re supposed to win every game. That’s the reality of the type of basketball we played this season.”

That’s exactly how Joe Mazzulla wants them to feel.

As Mazzulla got up from the podium following a 121-87 master class of a victory, he had one more thing to say. The Celtics coach’s news conferences are often sparring sessions that end with one last parting gift to half-jokingly admonish the assembled masses watching.

“Nobody wants to ask about all the adjustments we made from Game 1 to Game 2?” Mazzulla sarcastically chided as he walked away.

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This game was full of strategic minutia and execution, but it was defined by its furor. The Celtics were pissed, just as their coach wanted. He’s mentioned how his team’s frustration fills him with glee, as evident by the corners of his mouth turning upward ever so slightly when admitting as much.

The anger finally got its release with under a minute left in the first half, when Al Horford knew Joel Embiid had the angle on him for once and just conceded the huge dunk. It could have been a moment for Embiid to finally find a rhythm and set the tone for the second half, but Marcus Smart said, “Hell nah.”

Smart immediately pushed the pace, but then he felt something. De’Anthony Melton picked him up, an ideal matchup for the Sixers. But Smart didn’t care. He wanted his pound of flesh.

So he put up his hand and told everyone to give him space. He dribbled over to Jaylen Brown’s corner and told him to get the hell out of the way. Even with Grant Williams wide open in the weak corner, he didn’t care. He was going to get his bucket and flex.

“I’m an emotional guy,” Smart said. “I’m one of the emotional leaders in here, so being able to control my emotions is going to allow my team to calm down and settle down and be right. If I’m out of my space, out of my head, if I’m out of control, the team’s going to be out of control.”

As he was munching on a box of his Wicked Smarts cereal, he thought back to the bittersweet moment at the end of Game 1, when he flew to the hoop with the game on the line and, instead of taking the layup, tried to drop the ball off to Jayson Tatum for an even easier layup. But Tatum wasn’t ready, the ball fumbled out of bounds, and the Celtics ended up losing the game.

Brown and Tatum may be the stars, but Smart is this team’s heartbeat. He is the highest ideal of who they want to be, an entirely unpredictable playmaker on both ends who looks to create defining moments throughout the game.

“Me being the best I can be, locked in, it forces everybody else to be. And it’s one of those things: learn, watch the film, and I adapted,” Smart said. “I tried to dump off a pass to JT, probably should have took (the shot). Tried to get my ball. This time I took the shot, made it.”

There was one possession in the middle of the second quarter where Smart actually guarded James Harden inbounding the ball in the backcourt just to make a point, ran down court to double Tyrese Maxey, shaded over to double Embiid, then forced a Harden miss as the shot clock ran out. Even on the rebound, Grant Williams boxed Embiid out of bounds.

The Celtics defense wanted to make it clear they owned the court.

“I’m sore as sh—, but I’m gonna be OK,” Smart said, noting anti-inflammatories are helping at least. “You see my lip’s busted, the shoulder, chest. But I pride myself on being a warrior.”

For some reason, Smart plays better hurt. This team seems to thrive when they’re wounded. That blood in the water stimulates their competitiveness when they realize it’s their own.

That was the realization from Game 1 and even the first round against the Atlanta Hawks. These playoff teams that they should beat on paper don’t play in ink. In the real world, the team that works the hardest and focuses the most usually comes out on top.

That was what pissed off Brogdon so much. The Celtics keep getting reminded they are human, then forget when the results appear otherwise. But after a new day, you have to turn the page.

“After midnight we’ve got to let everything go,” Smart said. “You can be frustrated. We were very frustrated with the game. But at midnight, we had to let it go. We had to get our minds back right.”

Mazzulla rolled the film, they saw how many ways they had to get out and run, then they came out and executed.

It started with their pickup points, as Jaylen Brown started the game pressing Harden in the backcourt. Harden kept Philadelphia’s offense churning by getting into early offense in transition, so Mazzulla clearly wanted to cut that off right away and disrupt the timing getting into pick-and-rolls with Embiid. Plus, the more that Embiid had to come back to screen Harden free, the more he had to go back and establish his position.

The first two minutes of the game featured Brown funneling Harden right into a trap to set up the Embiid 3 they wanted, then a minute later shading Harden wide so Jayson Tatum could step up and strip Harden. The Celtics were happy to just peel off the switches when Harden would drive and leave P.J. Tucker wide open, a nice adjustment after Tucker didn’t take a single shot in Game 1.

The main schematic adjustment was to guard up to touch on the screen level between Harden and Embiid, even though Harden made them pay when they did that with Paul Reed in Game 1. They were willing to bet that Embiid was moving too slowly for that to work and, well, they were right.

It was obvious this was the game plan when Rob Williams checked in and literally put his hand on Embiid during the screen, taking “touch” coverage literally. He actually dropped back on that play and contained the ball until Harden hit a clever pull-up as Williams started to recover toward Embiid, but it exhibited a sense of purpose to their defensive game plan that faded at times in Game 1.

The Celtics were pissed they once again let a star beat them. They played conservatively on Trae Young and he torched them for most of the first round. Stephen Curry did the same thing in the NBA Finals. Harden did it in Game 1. This time, they wanted to take out all their anger on Harden and Embiid, just make the Sixers’ MVPs look helpless and dare someone else to beat the Celtics.

That’s where Grant Williams came in. He’s been on the outside looking in for much of this season, waiting for his moment when the Celtics have to send their David at Goliath. So Williams came in, walked up to Embiid, and let him know how the rest of his night was about to go.

“That’s what I basically said to him: I’m here to make you frustrated and continue to make this hard for you every single night,” Grant Williams said. “That’s my role and how I play.”

Once Williams came in the game, both he and Embiid shot 4-for-7 for the rest of the game. Williams was more annoying than that damn TNT drone flying all over the place.

“I’ve prided myself on guarding the best players. He’s one of those,” Grant Williams said. “You have tremendous respect for him but at the same time, you’re the ultimate competitor. Try to make every single thing hard, even walking up the floor. I think we did a good job of that tonight. Me and Al did a good job kind of one-two punching him and making him work for everything.”

Imagine winning your first MVP and (almost) all of your dreams have come true, then coming out the next day to play clearly way too early on a lateral collateral ligament (LCL) sprain and having to put up with this all night. That’s real frustration.

After Brown had set the tone picking up Harden full court, Williams was doing the same. Who picks up a center full court? According to Williams, Brown was yelling at anyone whenever they checked into the game and didn’t do the same.

At the end of the day, shot margin is the baseline from which Mazzulla assesses the game, and the Celtics launched 21 more 3s than the Sixers in Game 2. Their 51 3s were almost as much as the Sixers’ 53 combined 3-point and free-throw attempts. The Celtics’ pace and space reflected the identity with which they dominated to open the season, while shrinking the floor so the Sixers couldn’t get high-value looks.

Philadelphia shot 2-for-20 on above-the-break 3s, compared to Harden going 6-for-13 on those shots in Game 1 all on his own. Harden shot 2-for-14 from the field and 0-for-6 from deep, tying his March 20 shooting numbers against Chicago for his worst game of the season. At least he had 12 dimes that night, but he only had four in Game 2 and the 76ers had 13 as a team. After springing on the Celtics and catching them a bit off guard, they were dismantled Wednesday.

For all of their game-plan tweaks, defense is simply pride. Do you really feel threatened? Do you realize how vulnerable you are in the playoffs when you forget their opponent is just waiting for you to let up so they can pounce? Whether it’s about intensity, technique or strategy, it doesn’t matter.

“I don’t see a difference, we just have to embrace the challenge,” Brown said. “It’s going to be tough guarding a guy who is MVP-caliber, it’s tough guarding a guy who is motivated and wants to play well in the playoffs too. So you just got to man up and do your job.”

This night was a stark reminder of what this team looks like when everybody is doing their job. No wonder Mazzulla was talking trash as he walked off into the night. But Mazzulla didn’t get peppered with questions about the intricacies of pick-and-roll coverages or how he controlled subbing with Williamses based on the composition of Philadelphia’s front court because this was a night of emotion.

Their schematic decisions mattered, but they were catalyzed by their mindset. This was the prime example of what the Celtics look like when their mentality matches their talent. But Mazzulla seems to thrive being on edge, which is right where he wants his team to live.

“I’m not surprised he asked you guys that, but I’m proud of him,” Smart said. “We expect to be perfect sometimes and we forget this is his first year in this spot with the reins and he’s doing a phenomenal job at it. But we’ve got to relax and let him learn as well. He understands, he has his staff there, they’re talking, and they’re going to make the right adjustments. And that’s what he did tonight, and it showed.”