No brotherly love now

Morris expects Sixers revival

PHILADELPHIA — Late Thursday night as he was leaving the Garden, Marcus Morris was asked how many times he hit Ben Simmons before the ball was put in play.

“I don’t know,” Morris replied with a bit of a grin. “I lost count. Hey, got to let him know you’re there, right?”

It’s fair to assume the

76ers rookie is well aware of Morris’ presence. Simmons’ ribs are on a first-name basis with Morris’ forearm. And we’re not talking about drill shots here, just the little physical reminders that make their point.

And keep Simmons to a point — as in one point in 31 minutes (seven assists, five turnovers, a minus-23). Al Horford started out on him, Morris tagged in, and Marcus Smart got him on switches and the like.

Morris wasn’t just playing head games, though that may be the result.

“I don’t know,” he said. “That’s a good question. I’m not really trying to get in his head. I’m just trying to do what my team needs me to do. I mean, if that’s being overly physical, then so be it.”

And Morris insists the pleasure he takes in his job has nothing to do with that January situation in London when he set a pick and Simmons leveled him with a shoulder.

“No, that’s business as usual,” Morris said. “I’m doing what my team needs me to do. I have no issues or anything like that with him, no. He’s a great young player in this league, but that’s what I need to do for my team. It was a good sneak by him, but I’m on my toes now, so none of that’s going to go down again.”

And right about now, Simmons and the Sixers are thinking that what happened in Boston in Games 1 and 2 isn’t going down again here. Their self-esteem, built on 16 straight wins to close the regular season and a five-game dispatching of Miami in the first round, took a hit, but times change.

And in the NBA, when places change, people change.

It is a tried and true — not fake news — theory born of evidence that young guys and role players play better at home. They are more comfortable. They are less likely to be rattled by a screaming band of Bostonians shouting at them from the Garden stands while encouraging their opponent. They are more likely to hear the verbal warnings of their bench and avoid being flustered into a 24-second clock violation, as the Sixers were when they trailed by one in the third quarter.

While many folks have been a bit surprised by the way things unfolded in the Celts going up 2-0, even more would be stunned if we didn’t get a decidedly different vibe from the Sixers here.

So the series isn’t over. Just like it wasn’t over when the Celtics waltzed into Milwaukee with the same 2-0 lead just two weeks ago.

I mean, as future senator John Blutarsky put it, “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” (Gotta dig those 40-yearold movie references.)

The Celtics know a storm awaits them. Morris, a proud native of North Philadelphia, is ready.

“I love Philly, man,” Morris said. “That’s my hometown. I expect it to be jumping. I expect it to be really loud. I’m excited. It’s like a dream come true going home and playing in front of all the people that watched me grow up. I’m excited.” Brotherly love?

“Am I going to get any? Probably not,” Morris said. “But after the game, my family’s still going to love me. My friends are still going to love me. For them, it’s probably a win-win, because if the Sixers win, they’re happy. If I win, they’re happy.”

And, as for how the Celts can survive, he tapped into the issue of youth/role players on the playoff road.

“Just being together,” he said. “You know, it’s going to be a loud environment. We’ve got a lot of young guys, but, as you can see, they’re stepping up and playing like veterans. So we’re excited, we’re ready. We’re expecting a loud crowd. We’re expecting a lot of harassment. But at the end of the day, we’re going to go in there and we’ll take care of business.”

The Celts have never lost a best-of-seven series when taking the first two games, but with 40 percent of their desired 2017-18 starting lineup already on the shelf and another 20 percent (Jaylen Brown) moving gingerly between roaring dunks, do you really want to simply lean on the homecourt advantage and leave this to a Game 7 chance?

The 76ers are the ones doing the leaning now.

If the Celtics can tip them over in Game 3, then the series will truly be “over.” No matter who bombed where.