Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers Series Preview
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The Boston Celtics survived a game 7 against the Milwaukee Bucks, coming away with a 112-96 victory. They move on to face the Philadelphia 76ers. Game 1 is tonight at 8 pm Eastern Daylight Time.
Boston faced Philadelphia 4 times in the regular season. Boston was 3-1. Philadelphia avoided the season sweep on January 18th winning 89-80. Of course that was 2 months ago and these teams are playing at a different level.
The Celtics are going to be able to score points. In the 1st-round they averaged 102.4 points per game. The Celtics will need to continue to feed the ball to Al Horford who is averaging 18.1 points per game in these playoffs. Jaylen Brown, Marcus Morris, and Jayon Tatum should also have decent looks at the basket against Philadelphia.
Boston was average shooting the 3-pointer. They were able to pass the ball around but couldn’t put the ball in the basket from beyond the arc. Against the Bucks, they shot 35%. That must improve if Boston wants to knock off Philadelphia.
Another area that must be increased is their free throw percentage. Anytime they were fouled, they missed too many free throws hitting at just 75.3%. Boston was lucky those misses didn’t cost them the series against the Bucks.
Defensively, it is going to be tough to stop Philadelphia from scoring. The 76ers average 114.2 points per game and can score from anywhere on the court. Outside J.J. Redick and Dario Saric are able to hit 3-pointers. Philadelphia will feed Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons down low. They can cut to the basket for easy layups.
Boston needs to box out on the offensive and defensive ends. They can’t allow Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid to grab rebounds. Those are second chance and possibly fast break points for the 76ers. Boston has to be the aggressive team.
Boston is the more skilled team in these playoffs. Philadelphia is a young team who is playing at a high level. The Celtics must go on long runs. Once that happens they seize the momentum. They can’t allow the 76ers to have long streaks of points. Boston needs to play defense against the 76ers. If they don’t it could be a short series. Hopefully Boston’s experience will take them to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Boston Celtics survived a game 7 against the Milwaukee Bucks, coming away with a 112-96 victory. They move on to face the Philadelphia 76ers. Game 1 is tonight at 8 pm Eastern Daylight Time.
Boston faced Philadelphia 4 times in the regular season. Boston was 3-1. Philadelphia avoided the season sweep on January 18th winning 89-80. Of course that was 2 months ago and these teams are playing at a different level.
The Celtics are going to be able to score points. In the 1st-round they averaged 102.4 points per game. The Celtics will need to continue to feed the ball to Al Horford who is averaging 18.1 points per game in these playoffs. Jaylen Brown, Marcus Morris, and Jayon Tatum should also have decent looks at the basket against Philadelphia.
Boston was average shooting the 3-pointer. They were able to pass the ball around but couldn’t put the ball in the basket from beyond the arc. Against the Bucks, they shot 35%. That must improve if Boston wants to knock off Philadelphia.
Another area that must be increased is their free throw percentage. Anytime they were fouled, they missed too many free throws hitting at just 75.3%. Boston was lucky those misses didn’t cost them the series against the Bucks.
Defensively, it is going to be tough to stop Philadelphia from scoring. The 76ers average 114.2 points per game and can score from anywhere on the court. Outside J.J. Redick and Dario Saric are able to hit 3-pointers. Philadelphia will feed Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons down low. They can cut to the basket for easy layups.
Boston needs to box out on the offensive and defensive ends. They can’t allow Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid to grab rebounds. Those are second chance and possibly fast break points for the 76ers. Boston has to be the aggressive team.
Boston is the more skilled team in these playoffs. Philadelphia is a young team who is playing at a high level. The Celtics must go on long runs. Once that happens they seize the momentum. They can’t allow the 76ers to have long streaks of points. Boston needs to play defense against the 76ers. If they don’t it could be a short series. Hopefully Boston’s experience will take them to the Eastern Conference Finals.
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