Over the course of my time covering the Philadelphia 76ers, games against the Boston Celtics have generally been insufferable affairs, thanks largely to the overwhelming dread you felt as a result of the regular playoff beatdowns the Sixers suffered at the hands of their hated rivals in the playoffs.
But the tide has turned quite a bit over the last six months, thanks in large part to the Sixers' 3-1 comeback against the Celtics in the playoffs last year. The series was not only the best playoff win of the Joel Embiid era, but also marked the end of the Jays era in Boston, the superstar pairing that had caused the Sixers so much pain and grief over the years.
That alone would have been cause for celebration, but the Sixers then directly benefited from the destruction that they caused, landing Jaylen Brown for way less than most thought was possible. That the Brown acquisition ended up making LeBron James strongly consider, and eventually sign with, the Philadelphia 76ers only adds to how monumental of a series of events that was for your hometown club.
Which sets up a truly fascinating night at the Xfinity Mobile Arena later tonight, with the entire NBA world set to tune in. Will Tatum and Brown interact at all before the game? Will they take on the assignment of guarding each other? Will Brown try to do too much in his first match against his former teammate and go off script? Or will he use the motivation to dominate the game? Will their war of words continue after the game?
And yet despite all those changes the Celtics come into the game with an 8-2 record, owners of the league's 5th best offensive attack (despite Jayson Tatum shooting just 42% from the field and 31.3% from 3) and the league's 4th best defense, combining for a +11.6 net rating which is best in the league.
That leads to three key takeaways:
- The Celtics just seem to have this regular season thing figured out.
- Paul George is a very, very good fit for what the Celtics need (when he and Tatum are healthy...).
- The Celtics have played a very easy schedule up to this point.
Before we get to thoughts on that, a little bit of housekeeping.
Current injuries:
- Dominick Barlow remains out with a stress reaction in his lower back. Barlow met with a specialist last week, and Nick Nurse told us in Detroit on Wednesday that he was hopeful Barlow would be able to get back on the court in 10-12 days, which would be sometime this weekend. Note that getting on the court means back to doing basketball activities, so some ramp up time to get back into games would still be expected even if Barlow returns as scheduled.
- Adem Bona is out with a cervical spine sprain which he suffered in last Wednesday's game against the Pistons.
- Outside of Hukporti, those are the only players on the injury report for the Sixers. Embiid was previously on the report, albeit listed as probable, with right foot plantar fascia management for Sunday's game in Chicago, but he is not listed for today's game against the Celtics.
Upcoming schedule:
- Tuesday, 8 pm vs Boston Celtics (8-2)
- Thursday, 7 pm vs Toronto Raptors (5-5)
- Injury note: Kawhi Leonard (knee) will miss the game.
- Sunday, 1 pm vs Indiana Pacers (3-8)
- Injury note: Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring) has missed the last 7 games, although he has not definitively been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Sixers.
