Miami Heat

The Sixers may have tied the series, but doing so for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference will take a lot of work.

Their problems start on the defensive end. Philadelphia has a 123.7 defensive rating through the series’ first four games, 5.1 points behind the rest of the playoffs.

A big reason that rating is so high is due to Philadelphia’s interior defense. Boston outscored Philadelphia by 24 points in Game 1. However, in games 2-4 with Embiid on the floor, the Celtics still have a +6 point differential.

Additionally, the Sixers allowed the Celtics to shoot 38 percent from beyond the arc. Three-point shooting may have been Philadelphia’s most significant asset during the regular season and first round. Still, the Sixers were nearly 3.0 percent worse on threes against Boston than they were against Brooklyn.

The Sixers beat on threes and in the paint, a poor combination in a best-of-seven series.

Boston has a clear advantage in this game, but its Bench may be the most significant Advantage.

The Celtics bench could have had a Clearer advantage over Philadelphia during the regular season. According to the source Boston ranks 20th with 32.4 bench points per game, and Philadelphia is close behind at 32.3.

But Boston’s Bench beat Philadelphia 124-82 in the first four games, suggesting a much wider gap at the Bench than the regular-season numbers indicate.

Malcolm Brogdon was a big reason for the 42-point gap. He averaged 19.25 points per game in the series, with the majority of his scoring coming from 3-point range on 53.3 percent of his attempts.

Philadelphia and Boston are down to three or four, but no one on Philadelphia’s Bench can match Brogdon’s performance.

James Harden scored 45 points in the series opener in a game where every moment counted. Then he struggled in Games 2 and 3 (28 points combined), then blew up 42 points in Game 4. However, even with Harden breaking the 40-point mark twice, the 76ers won by just five total points in those matchups, even with Embiid’s 34 points in Game 4.

Matching up with Philadelphia on threes is critical to beating the 76ers, and the Celtics have done just that. Combine the 3-point shooting with Boston’s bench advantage, and Boston will win the match on Wednesday.