BOSTONThe Sixers were at their best in Friday's Game 4 comeback win when they moved the ball well and made the extra passes necessary to find easier buckets. They hit some clutch shots down the stretch, but their interior passing was simply fantastic. They got more open layups instead of settling for jumpers.
Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams played key roles off the bench in making it all happenYoung with his motor and Williams with not only with his trusty scoring infusion but also his welcomed distribution.
While the Celtics are at their best when they receive huge contributions from their current big threePaul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnettthe Sixers are most successful when the whole team gets involved. Five players scored in double-digits for the Sixers in Game 4, with another two adding at least eight points each. A balanced attack is how the Sixers won in the regular season, and it's helped them in the playoffs too.
"I think depth is vital," head coach Doug Collins said following Monday morning's shootaround. "We trust our bench. It was one of the most potent in the league during the regular season, I think third or fourth in the league in scoring. Our bench brings a different dimension than what we start with. We come in and have some speed with Thad and Lou.
Jodie gives you an element of speed now. You can change the game. I've felt about a bunch, I like a bench that's got a lot of energy because they can change the game. You like to be able to go to your bench when things aren't going well, or even if they are going well, so you can change the game in your favor. Our guys have done a good job of that.
Young is both fun to watch and most effective when he's aggressive and using his athleticism to be active on both ends of the floor.
Activity, energy, were the keys to Youngs impressive Game 4, Collins said. "I thought Thad and Lavoy have played very, very well together defensively. He's gone out and run the floor, he's got offensive rebounds."
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While Young made things happen by being aggressive, Williams mixed his game up well and kept the Celtics off balance. Williams sparked the offense with his 15 points off the bench, but he also dropped a team-high eight assists.
"He draws such attention," Collins said. "Whenever he's out there and he comes off a screen and roll, they're going to trap him. Whenever he comes off any kind of pin-downs, the big guys are going to show-out and try to double-team him. That means there's two on the ball. That means there's four on three somewhere else. If we can take advantage of that, we'd like to do that.
"I told Williams I thought the key play the other night was, he had it going, he penetrated and trusted Dre and he kicked it out for the open three-point shot. When Lou's doing that, he makes us a whole different team. The two games we've won, he's been a huge plusminus. We've talked about that with Lou. When he plays well, he makes us a different team."
Andre Iguodala, who hit two huge three-pointers in the final moments of Game 4 to help seal the victory, agreed with the sentiment that a sharing Williams is better than a gunning Williams.
"It makes him that much harder to guard," Iguodala said. "When his assists are that high, he can have zero points and I think that's more effective than him scoring. Every game they're keying on him to shoot the ball so not only is he a threat but he's making other guys on our team a threat. It's a lot harder to guard us when his assists are high. When he's playing like that, we're a really good team."
E-mail Enrico Campitelli at the700level@gmail.com