A Telltale Sign: 76ers vs. Celtics Game 1 Preview

The Philadelphia-Boston rivalry has stood tall for decades on end, and one more chapter to the story will start to be written this Sunday afternoon.

Sunday marks the 23rd time the 76ers and Celtics have met in the postseason — the most meetings of two teams in the history of the NBA playoffs. Boston has had Philly’s number, winning 15 of the first 22 meetings and having won the last 6 playoff series. The Sixers have not beaten the Celtics in a playoff series since the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals.

A Rivalry Renewed, But a Different Look

At first glance, the average NBA fan would think this series would be similar to the common theme of this matchup — but when taking a closer look, Philadelphia has a real shot.

Granted, that shot is indeed a long one. At the surface level, Philadelphia is outmatched in almost every category by this healthy Boston team, which nobody expected to be this dominant this season. A deeper dive is needed to see how Philly really can compete.

The duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum is arguably the best in the league, and the additional pieces around them make the Celtics sometimes seem unstoppable. The backcourt of Payton Pritchard and Derrick White can handle the ball just about as well as anyone and can get their own share of buckets when Brown and Tatum aren’t, and Neemias Queta has fully lived up to his potential so far this season. Queta walked into a starting role with the Celtics without much expectation, but with his 7-foot, near 250-pound frame, potential was high. Queta has become an excellent defender and has added 10 points and 8 rebounds, on a 65% field goal percentage — the third highest in the NBA.

The Edge

Off the bench, there is a slight drop-off in talent, however. Nikola Vucevic is an excellent option to come in and give minutes in place of Queta, but other than him, the Boston depth is lackluster. Sam Hauser is the next biggest contributor when he comes off the bench, and he brings in just about 9 points per game. Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and the rest of the bench can get hot at times, but they all average less than 6 points per game. This lack of depth could very well lead Philadelphia to pulling off the upset.

It will be easy to tell from the jump if Boston’s depth is prepared to compete against Philadelphia, and if the Celtics cannot keep up when their main guys aren’t on the floor, the 76ers will have a big opportunity to steal some games — starting with game 1.

The Sixers guard duo of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe simply outmatches Boston’s Pritchard and White. Maxey and Edgecombe are more athletic, better scorers, better defenders, and completely dominate Boston’s backcourt from all different sectors. Being without Joel Embiid for game 1, and likely much beyond that, leaves a bit of a gap in the center position, but Adem Bona has been able to be serviceable on the defensive end with Embiid out in the past. Queta and Bona, when matched up to one another, are pretty similar players, just with a slightly more offensive focus for Queta and a more defensive focus for Bona. The issue lies with dealing with Brown and Tatum, but Kelly Oubre Jr. and Paul George have been excellent defenders. If the two forwards can at least somewhat contain Boston’s forwards, a main bulk of the Celtics’ scoring would be absent.

There alone, the starting lineups are decently even, maybe with a slight edge going to Boston just because of the freakish scoring ability of Brown and Tatum.

The Blueprint

Philly’s bench completely changes the equation.

To combat the backup Vucevic, Philly has a red-hot Andre Drummond, who can add to the scoring sheet while also adding double-digit rebound performances on the regular. Along with Drummond, the Sixers have Quentin Grimes to use as a valuable offensive piece. The high-flying guard averages over 13 points per game mainly off the bench, and has had multiple nights where he dropped 20 or even 25+ points without starting. That scoring that doesn’t even reside in the starting lineup will be difficult for Boston to plan for. Dominick Barlow and Justin Edwards are two other young guys who have made their impact felt in a variety of different facets, and can absolutely do that against the weak Boston depth.

Philadelphia’s strategy in Game 1 will be simple and noticeable from the jump: Exploit Boston’s lack of depth and run from there. Game 1 can be a telltale sign of how this entire series can go. If the 76ers can figure out how to exploit Boston early on in the series, it can put them in a very favorable position for the rest of it.

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