T.J McConnell Saves Philadelphia 76ers

T.J McConnell starred to force a fifth game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics on Monday.

The surprise inclusion turned in a strong performance in the guard position to reduce the series deficit to 3 – 1. The Boston Celtics will now have to win one more game to eliminate the Philadelphia 76ers.

T.J McConnell finished the night with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Most importantly, he succeeded at his main job: Keeping Celtics guard Terry Rozier quiet.

Rozier had his worst game of the series, scoring just 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting and making two assists.

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Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown said his decision to start T.J McConnell outlined the aggression required for the match.

“You need to come in with a spirit,” Brown said. “You need to come in with a tenacity. T.J. epitomizes that, so we start him. To declare that to a team — and you’re fighting for your life — and to then put him in an environment that lets him do it makes more sense to me as a coach. You can’t do it a lot, but to put him in an aggressive mindset in an aggressive defensive format, and to deliver the message that I’ve just said, it equals something.”

T.J McConnell delivered on that aggression, as attested to my his teammates.

“He changed everything,” 76ers center Joel Embiid said. “He was pressing full court the whole time doing his job, running the offense, getting guys involved, making shots, layups.”

“All guards try to drive downhill, and it opened the space for T.J.,” 76ers forward Dario Saric said. “And T.J. just took it.”

As for McConnell himself, the player reflected on his team’s’ rise to the playoffs over the last few years.

“It was a pretty special moment,” McConnell said. “I think we have the best fans in the NBA. They’ve been here through the dark times, and they’ve certainly been here on our rise.”