Celtics were flamethrowers from 3-point range and everything else that led to their Game 2 blowout win

BOSTON -- The Celtics were frustrated and angry with themselves after letting what should have been an easy win in Game 1 escape them on Monday night. So for Wednesday's Game 2, they took that frustration and anger out on the Philadelphia 76ers.

It translated to an explosive offensive performance and stellar defensive effort from the Celtics, who absolutely trounced Philadelphia to the tune of 121-87. It was music to everyone's ears inside TD Garden, and now the series is tied at a game apiece heading into Game 3 in Philadelphia on Friday night.

For two days after Boston's Game 1 loss, they were being dragged as phony contenders who continue to be their own worst enemy. They couldn't even beat a Philadelphia team without Joel Embiid on their own court, how could they possibly win a title? 

All the adjustments that fans and pundits were begging for throughout Game 1 were there in Game 2. Joe Mazzulla called out the Celtics for taking a season-low 26 threes in Game 1, and made it abundantly clear that wouldn't be acceptable going forward.

So the Celtics went out and rained fire from downtown. 

They played matador defense in Game 1 and let James Harden do whatever the heck he wanted in Game 1.

So the Celtics came out and made life as difficult as possible on Harden in Game 2, bumping him and cutting off his driving and passing lanes whenever he touched the ball.

Sloppy and frantic turnovers led to several easy buckets for Philly in Game 1.

So the Celtics restored their focus cut out the self-inflicted wounds in Game 2, leading to an easy night for just about everyone in green.

Wednesday night was the Celtics playing to their ability and playing like a team that is fully capable of winning a championship. Will that same Celtics team show up when the series shifts to Philly? Who knows. That's the biggest issue with this squad; we just don't know which version will show up on a given night.

But in Game 2, they were the Celtics that made everything look easy in the first half of the season. It was all thanks to a slew of adjustments they needed to make after Game 1's embarrassment.

Raining Threes

The Celtics heard Mazzulla's message about threes loud and clear, launching 22 3-pointers in the first half Wednesday night. They were even more three-happy in the second half, and ended up with 51 shots from downtown.

Overall, Boston made 20 of their deep strikes, which helped them flip the game in the third quarter. Derrick White hit two threes during a 12-1 run in the quarter, followed by Malcolm Brogdon draining three over a two-minute span to really blow the game open.

The Celtics made 20 3-pointers on Wednesday, while the 76ers made just six. Of those 20 makes by Boston, 16 of them were assisted, showing just how well the Celtics were moving the ball on Wednesday.

"I don't want to come down and just jack them up there for the sake of jacking them up there," Mazzulla said after the win. "But I thought our defense led to our energetic offense, and I thought we did a great job not passing jump open ones, and we still got good looks at the rim. So we just have to continue to find that balance of creating 2-on-1s, finding the right time to shoot it, and I thought the game was connected."

They took care of the ball

The C's turned the ball over 16 times in Game 1, leading to 20 easy points for the 76ers. In Game 2, they took much better care of the ball and only turned it over seven times, leading to just five Philly points. 

They forced the 76ers into a baker's dozen of turnovers, which the C's turned into 13 points of their own. What a difference.

They got the ball out of James Harden's hands

Harden torched the Celtics in Game 1, thanks in large part to the massive plot of land they gave him whenever the ball was in his hands. That was not the case in Game 2.

Jaylen Brown (who also led all scorers with 25 points) was essentially in Harden's shorts whenever he defended him, limiting his space to operate. Harden was 0-for-4 when Brown was defending him in Game 2.

Whoever was on Harden got up in his space, and the Celtics limited him to just 12 points on 2-for-14 shooting. He missed all six of his 3-point attempts.

Harden couldn't even get his teammates involved, as he was held to just four assists on the night. 

With the defense locked in and keeping anyone in a 76ers uniform from getting comfortable, Boston held an opponent under 90 points for the first time this season. 

They let Embiid try to be Embiid, when he clearly was not Embiid

Embiid was obviously going to have some rust after missing nearly two weeks. And chances are he wouldn't be the MVP-level Embiid given his injury usually takes 4-6 weeks to recover from.

Still, it looked like he would still have a big impact on the defensive end, blocking five shots in the first half. But the Celtics made the adjustment they needed to and started to space the floor, forcing Embiid to close out on 3-point attempts. He's always struggled with that, even before the knee injury.

The Celtics attacked him and made him work, and Embiid eventually ran out of steam.

"It was important. He's their focal point," said Brogdon. "We know that, but we didn't know if he was going to be full speed or in shape because he took so many days off. So, we wanted to run him and see where he would be at. I thought we did a good job of that, and we'll see how he bounces back next game."

Making him work on defense led to less offense too, and Embiid was limited to just 15 points on 4-for-9 shooting. He didn't have much left by the second half, hitting just one of his four shots, all of which came in the third quarter.

Boston mixed it up on Embiid defensively, with Al Horford, Marcus Smart, and Grant Williams getting most of the looks on him. Williams was a pest whenever he was on the big man, and has seemingly played himself into an important role the rest of the series.

Bench Mob

The Boston bench was awesome Wednesday night, led by 23 points from Brogdon. He never had a cool spell, hitting seven of his 15 shots overall while setting a playoff career high with six made 3-pointers. His three-point barrage at the end of the third really turned the game on its head for Boston.

Brogdon nearly outscored Philly's reserves on his own, with the 76ers getting 26 points from their bench. And in addition to his defense on Embiid, Grant Williams added 12 points (4-for-8 from three), while Robert Williams pulled down seven rebounds and rejected three shots in his 22 minutes.

That bench output helped make up for Jayson Tatum's off night, as he played just 19 minutes and scored only seven points because of some early foul trouble. But Jaylen Brown and the bench more than handled the added responsibilities due to Tatum's absence/ineffectiveness.

Now the Celtics just need to carry all of this to Game 3, and be ready to make even more adjustments in a hostile environment.