After losing Game 1, 'angry' Celtics dominate 76ers in Game 2 - ESPN

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics spent the past 48 hours feeling «angry and pissed,» according to coach Joe Mazzulla, after the way they dropped Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Philadelphia 76ers at home. So from the opening minutes of Game 2 on Wednesday night, Celtics guard Jaylen Brown was determined to set a different tone for the rest of the team to follow.

Brown knocked down a 3-pointer on Boston's first offensive possession of the game, answering an opening bucket from Tobias Harris, and then proceeded to pick up James Harden from the moment the Sixers inbounded the ball to defend him full court.

It all led to a dominant effort from the Celtics, who responded with 121-87 victory over the Sixers in Game 2. Boston's 34-point win tied for the third-largest margin of victory in a playoff game in franchise history, handed the Sixers their first loss of this postseason and evened the series 1-1. Game 3 is Friday night in Philadelphia.

«We just got to take more pride in ourselves,» Brown said after the game. «I felt like we underperformed last game, and we wanted to come out and play to the best of our ability. That's what we did.»

Brown led all scorers with a game-high 25 points and helped pick up the slack for Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who played only 19 minutes and scored seven points after spending most of the game in foul trouble. It's Boston's largest margin of victory in any game in which Tatum was held to fewer than 10 points.

«Our strength is our depth,» said Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon, who tied a franchise playoff record with six 3-pointers off the bench and finished with 23 points. «The way the roster is constructed, we got guys like me, Derrick [White], Grant [Williams] that are playing