The Philadelphia 76ers are at home on Tuesday night to take on the Boston Celtics for the third time in the early part of the season. The teams have split their previous two matchups, and neither has been able to maintain consistency, especially over the last few games. The Sixers will be without Joel Embiid, who was added to the injury report late and is officially OUT with right knee soreness.
Who: Boston Celtics (5-6) at Philadelphia 76ers (6-4)
When: 8:00 p.m. EST
Where: XFinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC, NBC Sports Boston, Peacock
To start, Embiid is now expected to miss a few games, as the team announced he's experiencing right knee soreness. While it's not the knee that has been the issue for Embiid over the past year, it's concerning that just ten games into the season, he will miss some extended time. The good news is that it could simply be a result of trying to do too much and overcompensating for his other knee. Without Embiid and his on-court presence looming over the team, they should be able to return to the basketball that they played at the start of the season.
For the first four games of the season, all of which were victories, the team shot well on their three-point attempts, which is the complete opposite of how they've performed over the previous few years. Yet, over the past six games in which they've lost four, the team can't seem to connect with any regularity from beyond the arc. The team must find a way to get back to the quality ball movement and better shots than they have been of late. While it's still early in the season, it's a disturbing trend for the team that dates back more than a couple of seasons.
The Celtics are coming into tonight's game almost identical to the Sixers in terms of their recent performance. They've been blown out by the Rockets and then walked all over the Wizards. They lost to the Magic on Friday, then came back to beat them on Sunday. The consistency is not there for the Celtics, but no one expected them to be, especially early in the season.
Having lost Jayson Tatum to injury at the end of the playoffs last season, the Celtics had given up on this season, way before the games started. They traded away Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, while letting Al Horford walk away in free agency. This left Jaylen Brown and Derrick White to lead a team with Payton Pritchard, Anfernee Simons, and Sam Hauser, which isn't exactly striking fear in the eyes of their opponents.
What Boston has been doing well, and it should help them in the long run, this season, is managing the rotation and minutes. As the team spends more time playing together, while not overworking their top players, they should achieve better results while keeping everyone healthy.
The Sixers entered the season with some hope that their guard rotation and smaller lineups would excel in the more positionless style of play that the league has adopted over the past few years. That has worked out well for them, to an extent, as Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Quentin Grimes have all been playing well in their rotation. What the Sixers are trying to do now is add the final piece, Jared McCain, into the rotation and give them a backcourt with depth, speed, shooting, and athleticism that may not be rivaled in the league, on the whole.
Where they're having issues is the consistency of the team around the guards, with the notable exception of Kelly Oubre Jr. For some reason, Oubre Jr. has just been quietly averaging 18.6 points per game on the season, providing the team with steady, quality play for the front court. If the team can get Paul George back and he can help relieve Oubre Jr. of some of the extended minutes he's been playing, the team will have depth all around.
After a huge win to open the season, followed by a tough loss to the Celtics on Halloween, the Sixers will look to get back to their winning ways tonight. Look for increased movement, higher defensive pressure, and transition points, and possibly even Jared McCain scoring.
Sixers 119 - Celtics 115
