James Harden torched the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, dropping 45 points in a 119-115 victory for the Philadelphia 76ers. Joel Embiid sat Monday night because of a knee injury, his return is unknown.

On Tuesday’s Toucher & Rich program—Mike Gorman, play-by-play commentator for the Celtics on NBC Sports Boston, explained why he believes Jayson Tatum should play more aggressively. 

• 

  Boston Celtics play-by-play commentator Mike Gorman (AP Photo) SOURCE: Elise Amendola

• Rich: If Embiid is out in Game 2, you don’t think this will happen again, right? 

  Mike Gorman: I hope not. 

  Rich: It’s almost like Harden’s a human cheat code. That guy couldn’t miss last night. Do you think he was properly covered? Kendrick Perkins called out Joe Mazzulla for not throwing double coverage at him. At the end, when it was just Al Horford defending, do you think they defended him properly? 

  Mike Gorman: I think they stuck with their game plan. I kind of admire that about Joe [Mazzulla] because he’ll go down with the ship if he must. 

• JAMES HARDEN ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
  
  He has a playoff career-high 45 PTS pic.twitter.com/QHOJviHtEt

  — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 2, 2023

• Mike Gorman: The Sixers were ready to play last night. They’ve been ready to play for about five days, and the Celtics weren’t. At the end of the first quarter, Mazzulla was visibly pissed off and said, “This is not great. We’re not playing hard enough. We have no fear, no sense of urgency.”. 

  I know what it is about this team, but that’s been true all year long. 

  Wallach: The Celtics played well in the first half but were only up by three over a team missing their best player. That’s a big problem. And that leads me to my question, Mike. Why does this team seem to make life harder on itself? You saw it in Atlanta. You see it in this series. You saw it during the playoffs last year. 

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  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 10: Jaylen Brown #7 and Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics talk over a play in the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors during Game Four of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 10, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

• Wallach: We can’t say they’re too young anymore. Why do you think this continues to happen? 

  Mike Gorman: I don’t think they’ve worked out amongst themselves who will be “the guy” down the stretch. I think that’s still up in the air. Jayson Tatum, who I’ve been critical of in the past, maybe has to become more aggressive. He has to put his stamp on games. 

  Last night, when he went to the basket, he got there and scored. So, I would much rather see that as the Celtics were losing down the stretch. You want him shooting the ball over anyone else in that situation. 

• "I think we just allow guys to get a little bit too comfortable at times"
  
  Jayson Tatum breaks down the lack of defensive intensity so far, these playoffs pic.twitter.com/PDa2NMeIFW

  — Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 2, 2023

• Mike Gorman: I don’t know what they’ll do, but they’ve got to make some changes. They have to win Wednesday night. You can’t go down two games before traveling to Philadelphia. If I were the Sixers, I’d probably stay with what I’m doing and not play Embiid. They should give him another three or four days to get his knee right. 

• Full Segment

• Ryan Beaton is a producer for 985thesportshub.com. You can follow Ryan at @ry_beaton on Twitter.

  Follow @Toucherandrich on Twitter, @Toucherandrichofficial and @fredtoucher on Instagram to keep up with the show!

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