CAMDEN, N.J. — Think the first-round series against the Heat was as physical as it gets in the playoffs?
The Sixers don’t think so.
As the Sixers await their next opponent, which will be decided Saturday in a Game 7 between the Celtics and Bucks, they know they’ll be in for yet another battle.
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“No matter who we play, it’s going to be an extremely physical game,” Brett Brown said Friday. “I think that both of those two teams are elite defensively. You can see how they guard each other and how hard it is to score. It’s going to be a very, I think, defensive-oriented series no matter who we play.”
The young Sixers got a crash course in postseason physicality during a hard-fought five-game series facing a gritty Heat squad. There were 10 technical fouls called between Games 3 and 4 alone. The Heat committed two techs in the second half of Game 5, including Goran Dragic’s swiping Ben Simmons in the head. Brown observed his players, many of whom had never competed on this stage, stay disciplined.
“I think it’s a major testament to our team and our young players that they were able to play in an incredibly physical back-at-them way with no back down yet do it in a way that sort of belies their experience,” Brown said. “They were highly competitive but they did it in a poised, mature way. You need all that in the playoffs.”
Brown said he coaches the importance of staying composed just as he would a specific scheme, through videos and visual examples. He talks about all sides of tough basketball — physical, mental, structural. When he can’t be on the court, he turns to his more experienced players for in-game coaching.
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“I hope some of it seeps in,” Brown said. “I hope some of our veteran players can help share that messaging and repeat it when I’m not around. But the bottom line is, their actions speak louder than the words I’m saying because they did it. They played competitive basketball and tough basketball while still playing within themselves and not overreacting or having meltdowns.”
Tensions have already flared between the Sixers and one of their potential opponents. During a January game against the Celtics, Marcus Morris shoved Simmons in response to what he considered a “cheap shot” by Simmons.
“I think that experience we had with Miami will help us, whether it be Boston or Milwaukee,” Brown said.