109 basketball playoff games, more than any two other teams have faced each other in the tournament. Countless names, legends, symbols and rivalries. Chamberlain Russell, Bird Irving, Iverson Pierce, each pairing gave fans an iconic series fit for NBA games.
Once again, both teams find themselves with championship aspirations and some of the best talent in the league to boot. While not as hot as the aforementioned rivalries, Embiid-Tatum, a matchup arguably between two of the five best players in the NBA, is one that belongs alongside names of the past.
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It’s been one-sided since those two superstars took over their respective teams, culminating in two losing streaks for the 76ers. The 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals saw Boston sweep a gentleman sweep, and the game in 2020 was more than a footnote as the 76ers swept the Celtics in the NBA bubble.
As they hope to reverse their fortunes, the 76ers have revamped their roster, naming former MVP James Harden Ben Simmons Place.
However, they did not find further success, as they were unable to advance beyond the second round during Embiid’s tenure. Will they be able to overcome their demons against an all too familiar foe?
Meanwhile, the Celtics enjoyed deeper runs in the postseason. Since 2018, the duo Jaylen Brown And Jason Tatum It advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals three times and reached the NBA Finals for the first time last season.
Philly Boston has not been defeated in the playoffs since 1982. They’ve been stifled for 41 years, but if they’ve outgrown their longtime rivals, with Milwaukee out, the road to the NBA Finals since 2001 looks more like. ever clear.
Can they succeed or does the East still run through New England? Here’s one burning question for every team and the X factor that could swing the series.
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Series overview
regular season seriesThe Celtics won the season series 3-1
Odds of winning the series: Celtics -455 | 76ers +301 (trans mathematical interaction)
Series schedule:
Game 1: Monday, May 1 @ Boston, 7:30 PM ET
Game 2: Wednesday, May 3 @ Boston at 8:00 PM ET
Game 3: Friday, May 5 @ Philadelphia 7:30 PM ET
Game 4: Sunday, May 7 @ Philadelphia 3:30 PM ET
Game 5: Tuesday, May 9 in Boston, TBD
Game 6: Thursday, May 11 in Philadelphia TBD
Game 7: Sunday, May 14 @ Boston TBD
String prediction: 76ers over the Celtics in seven games
burning question – Boston CelticsWill Joe Mazzola’s learning on the job be harmful when the lights get brighter?
Joe Mazzola wasn’t supposed to be here.
Ime Udoka’s suspension from the Celtics came out of nowhere just a few weeks before the start of the NBA pre-season. The Houston Rockets coach has now been suspended by the Celtics for the entirety of the 2022-2023 season after news broke of an alleged affair involving him and a member of the team’s staff.
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Mazzola, a 34-year-old assistant whose only major job was as a coach with the NCAA’s Division II Vermont State Fighting Falcons, was catapulted into the leadership role of a team that reached the NBA Finals the previous year. He ended up 3rd in Coach of the Year voting.
However, a question was raised about Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer after losing to the Miami Heat in the first round. Pax succeeded Although Budenholzer?
Could the same be asked of Mazzulla, as the roster he works with is clearly one designed for success, perhaps regardless of who leads the bench?
In the first round series, it took Boston six games to defeat the Atlanta Hawks as Trae Young rediscovered his love for playoff basketball, scoring nearly 30 points a game while unearthing last year’s MVP. Marcus Smart.
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His adjustments late in the games left a lot to be desired, as he chose to allow Young to isolate on Smart more frequently in the fourth quarter. The Hawks scored 46 percent of isolation appearances, hitting 1.05 points for each possessionboth are better than Regular season numbers.
Choosing to go with Marcus Smart as part of the closing line-up isn’t necessarily a wrong choice. In the series against The Hawks, the Smart lineup, Derek WhiteJaylen Brown and Jason Tatum Al Horford He finished with a +11.6 spread.
However, their most effective lineup in the regular season was when they hit it big, rolling with White, Brown, Tatum, Horford, and Robert Williamswhich ended in 99 percent with a difference of +45.1. Against a team that plays through big man Embiid, this might be the best five the Celtics can play.
Choosing a current production rating over past success may be the best option for Mzolla despite his past reluctance to sit out the Celtics’ tallest player at Smart.
burning question – Philadelphia Seventy Sixers: how worried we are Joel Embiidlatest injury?
full season of james harden, Therese Maxi Become a top scorer with an average of 20 points per game, Tobias Harris Shooting at 57 percent depth from the first round. Are the Philadelphia 76ers a reliable team after sweeping the Brooklyn Nets?
Unfortunately, the more things change, the more things stay the same. Even though the team is drastically different from the one that took the field the last time they faced the Celtics in the playoffs, Embiid still harbors the same concerns surrounding his injury history.
In Game 3 against the Brooklyn Nets, Embiid suffered a sprained LCL that forced the big man to sit out Game 4. Although it wasn’t a very bad injury initially, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that it was more serious than he originally thought and that he now doubts playing in the first game.
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Game 4 against the Nets, though, was an ugly outing for the Sixers, as Harden and Maxey combined to shoot 10 of 38 from the field. Harris led the way with 25 points in one of his best playoff games as a Sixer, but they’ll need two of their guards to excel if they want to keep their head above water against Boston.
Harden’s struggles in the playoffs are well documented, and since joining the Sixers, it’s only gotten worse. He currently averages 18.3 points (.387/.385/.884 shooting), 8.6 assists and 4.0 turnovers in 16 playoff games for Philadelphia—his worst average since coming off the bench with the Thunder in 2012.
The 76ers are 12-5 without Embiid this season. Of those 17 games, Harden played seven, averaging 20.6 points (. 409/. 354/. 841) with 9.4 assists and 6.7 rebounds. They were 5-2 in those games, however, only one of those games came against a playoff team in the Miami Heat.
It was good for the 76ers to beat the Nets, and it was even better for them if Atlanta could get two games from the Celtics. I gave Embiid two more days to recover and hopefully he will be back sooner rather than later.
Without Embiid, the Sixers likely won’t get past the Celtics, so the severity of his injury will likely determine the outcome of this series. How many games can the big guy miss without the team being in a hole deep enough to climb out of, and can the rest of the team complete the production they would miss without him?
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Series X-Factor: 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey
With Embiid out and Harden struggling in the big spots, the burden of the 76ers’ success may fall on third-year guard Therese Maxe.
The Speedster has done well in these types of games before. Last season in the second round against Miami, he led the team in scoring with 20.2 points on the night including a 34-point performance in Game 2 without Embiid.
In the first round of last season, Maxi burned the Raptors way with his blistering speed and averaged 21.3 points a game on .511/.405/.950 shooting splits over the six-game series.
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He’s been a major contributor for the 76ers this year and has found comfort in the starting role alongside Harden or as an extra scorer coming off the bench. His numbers +15 points per possession in the opening series against the Nets put him in the 95th percentile according to cleaning the glasses.
On the other hand, the team that has done the best job of slowing down a fast guard combo is the Boston Celtics. His 8.2 points per game in 10 meetings against the Celtics was the lowest mark of any team he faced.
If they are able to make Maxey invisible like they have done in the past, the series could be remade. However, if he can cut through Boston’s aggressive switch defense, his scoring prowess could keep them alive long enough for Embiid to show why he can be MVP this year.
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