The Boston Celtics have won the last two meetings between these long-standing division rivals, having narrowly defeated the Philadelphia 76ers by three points back in early November. This is the fourth game between the two teams. When these teams met for the first time in early December, Patrick Beverley nearly pulled off an upset by scoring a career-high 26 points. Now that Pat Bev is podcasting from Milwaukee, the Sixers will need a major effort from someone else if they are to defeat the league-leading 45-12 Celtics on their home court.
Everyone was aware that the Sixers would have significant challenges during this stretch following the All-Star break. It would be difficult for any team, much less one without its greatest player, to play the conference’s top four teams in six days. Although Philadelphia’s recent 1-2 record isn’t particularly disheartening, the manner in which those two losses occurred is disheartening. Even though the Sixers showed some heart by attempting to rally a little bit in the second halves, both of those games were lost at the half.
Tyrese Maxey appears to be a little overextended as the starting option every single night, which is nitpicking because he shouldn’t have to be in this situation. Probably all he needs is more support from the rest of the team, especially from $39.2 million guy Tobias Harris, who seems to be more interested in finding a place to live in the Detroit area than finding ways to score baskets these days. It’s practically Groundhog’s Day in Philadelphia, so Buddy Hield’s decline after his scorching hot start as a Sixer makes sense. As a result, the backup center position is once again a complete disaster. I hope you’re having fun with Andre Drummond, Chicago, for 14 minutes every night!
There have been several recent successes for the team. Since returning to the floor, De’Anthony Melton has been brisk and has shown no symptoms of the back issue that kept him out. Additionally, since the deadline, Kyle Lowry has appeared to be the best 37-year-old buyout candidate the franchise could have imagined. If and when Joel Embiid returns, you could certainly see everything falling into place perfectly.
However, without Embiid for the time being this season, the Sixers are 7-15. In the standings, Orlando, Miami, and Indiana are all within one game of them. If Joel were to leave Philadelphia, calling them a.500 team would likely be pushing the envelope in terms of results, and even then, it’s likely that a few of those teams would pass the Sixers by then. Josh Harris might potentially.
The Celtics, on an eight-game winning streak, are currently dominating everyone else. Boston’s statistical profile begs to be considered an elite contender, as I detailed in my state of the East post last week. Nothing would please me more than for the Sixers to put a barrier in the way of the Celtics tonight, but I’m not holding my breath. But for that reason, they engage in the games. This evening, we’ll see what Nick Nurse can come up with.
