The Boston Celtics roll into the city of brotherly love to do battle with one of the lone teams they have yet to beat in the East this year, as their primetime matinee against the Philadelphia 76ers will be broadcasted at 7:00 p.m. ET on TNT.
Fresh off of a disappointing home loss to the Spurs, the Celtics were caught by surprise in a 15-point trouncing, as they let ex-Raptors guard and old Atlantic Division rival DeMar DeRozan run rampant on them to have a signature 30-point night. What was more publicized in the tabloids was the erratic behavior of a Kemba Walker who, before being ejected in the third quarter of Wednesday’s contest, complained about a missed illegal screen call and was bounced after. And that fan that decided to invoke his own say by chucking a beer can over the Spurs bench and across the parquet floor? He was banned for life.
That fan’s anger was understandable (unacceptable, obviously) since these Celtics haven’t started out their 2020 on the right foot, losing two straight after winning two straight to kick off the new decade. The inconsistencies of their stars is becoming a pressing issue, and with guys like Walker and Jayson Tatum (who’s only scored 17 points against the Wizards and 14 points in 31 minutes against the Spurs) is quite the means for concern. Fortunately, their scoring efforts may come a little easier when dealing with a Sixers team that’s going to be without Joel Embiid for an unconfirmed amount of time with a torn tendon in his left hand.
For these two teams in their conference this year, it’s been a tale of two polar opposites. The Eastern favorites that all experts theorized to take heed of their conference is only a game or two out of holding the sixth spot in the division, and these Celtics are only a couple games out of repossessing the second-best spot in the East. As Boston returns to the site of their first loss of the season, the opportunity for the C’s to have the size advantage down low is there for their taking, as the rotation of Daniel Theis and Enes Kanter might have a field day against the Sixers’ lack of depth at the five spot.
That doesn’t mean they’re completely absolved from dealing with the multifaceted, other half of that frontcourt/backcourt, though. The 6’10 guard Ben Simmons, who is averaging nearly 15 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals per contest is still one of the league’s most intimidating defenders and with the addition of ex-Celtic Al Horford who is likely to slide over to that Center spot, the spacing of these Sixers that’s struggled to materialize itself multiple times this season will be a keen factor worth the examination in this primetime matchup.
Sixers/Celtics tips off on TNT at 7:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. CT.
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