Boston's young ones lead the way in old rivalry

ORLANDO (Florida) • There were plenty of positives as the Boston Celtics drew first blood in Game 1 of the first round of their National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs against the Philadelphia 76ers, the league's oldest rivalry.

Not only did they beat the Sixers 109-101, they showed the future was bright on Monday, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown becoming the first Boston players aged 23 or younger to score 25 or more points in the same play-off game.

All-Star forward Tatum led all scorers with 32 points, while guard Brown added 29 to overcome a more experienced Sixers team that missed All-Star Ben Simmons, who has been ruled out after undergoing season-ending knee surgery.

His absence could swing the series in favour of the Celtics, who lost three of their four regular-season match-ups, with the Australian guard proving to be their best defensive asset against Boston's perimeter threats.

Without him, Tatum, who was previously restricted to 28 per cent effective field-goal percentage, was able to drive to the rim repeatedly, leading Boston coach Brad Stevens to hail his battling display.

"Yeah, he was really good," he told ESPN. "I thought he was unbelievable defensively the whole game, talking and helping, and communicating and reading, and he just makes a bunch of - he makes a huge impact on that end.

"Then, offensively, it doesn't feel like he got 32 at the end of the night. He just plays the game within himself and finds the next right play. He did a lot of good things tonight."

The victory, however, came at a cost as they lost Gordon Hayward, who had 12 points before his night ended early, to an ankle injury.

The All-Star forward has been blighted by problems since joining the Celtics in 2017, suffering a broken ankle on his debut and subsequently missing the rest of that season.

Earlier this term, he fractured his hand and the 30-year-old could be a doubt for the rest of their series after leaving Disney World in a protective boot.

Stevens said: "Sprained ankle. Don't know the severity, but he's clearly in pain, and it looked like it had some swelling already. That's my medical review."

Simmons, however, is a bigger loss to the Sixers than Hayward is to the Celtics, and three-time All-Star Joel Embiid admitted he would have to do more ahead of Game 2 today, particularly as his team are depending on him to pick up the scoring slack.

The Cameroonian centre paced Philadelphia with 26 points and had 16 boards, but he conceded it was "obviously not enough".

"I've got to be more aggressive. Maybe we need to call some more plays but I don't know," Embiid said. "That's another thing we've got to fix going into Game 2."

REUTERS