The Celtics will face a familiar opponent in the first round of the playoffs, starting on Sunday
will take on the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, after the Sixers 109-97 win over the Orlando Magic in the 7/8 game on Wednesday night. The first game of the series is Sunday afternoon at TD Garden on ABC.
Game 2: Tuesday, April 21, at Boston, 7 p.m. Game 4: Sunday, April 26, at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. Game 6: Thursday, April 30, at Philadelphia, TBD *This will be the 23rd time the Celtics and Sixers have matched up in the playoffs, the most frequent matchup in NBA playoff history. The Celtics have won 15 of those series., but three of those games were played by November 11, so they came well before the Celtics figured themselves out.in their fourth matchup, which, like this one, will not involve Joel Embiid. Andre Drummond played well against Orlando, as did Adem Bona, who started but only played 16 minutes, so the Sixers can take some of that momentum with them into Boston. This could be a good matchup for the Celtics because the Sixers tend to give up a lot of attempts at the rim and on corner three-pointers. The Celtics, especially, are tailor made to exploit that, and can attack Drummond on pick-and-rolls and make reads from there. Orlando’s offense is nowhere near as creative or dynamic as Boston’s, so Drummond was allowed to shine. Tatum hasn’t faced the Sixers this season, so this series will have a very new, very problematic element for Philadelphia. They started Bona with Kelly Oubre Jr., Paul George, VJ Edgecombe, and Tyrese Maxey. Assuming Sam Hauser starts and takes Oubre Jr., that leaves Tatum, Brown, and Derrick White to match up against George, Maxey, and Edgecombe. There are a lot of places for the Celtics to attack in that lineup. As for the Magic, they are on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs. If it wasn’t for Desmond Bane, Orlando would have been out of this game in the third quarter. Paolo Banchero looked bad and Franz Wagner looked hurt. Their season, and Jamahl Mosley’s coaching tenure, could end Friday night.John Karalis is a 20-year veteran of Celtics coverage and was nominated for NSMA's Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year in 2019. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016 and has written two books about the Celtics. John was born and raised in Pawtucket, RI. He graduated from Shea High School in Pawtucket, where he played football, soccer, baseball, and basketball and was captain of the baseball and basketball teams. John graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism and was a member of their Gold Key Honor Society. He was a four-year starter and two-year captain of the Men’s Basketball team, and remains one of the school's top all-time scorers, and Emerson's all-time leading rebounder. He is also the first Emerson College player to play professional basketball . John started his career in television, producing and creating shows since 1997. He spent nine years at WBZ, launching two different news and lifestyle shows before ascending to Executive Producer and Managing Editor. He then went to New York, where he was a producer and reporter until 2018. John is one of Boston’s original Celtics bloggers, creating RedsArmy.com in 2006. In 2018, John joined the Celtics beat full-time for MassLive.com and then went to Boston Sports Journal in 2021, where he covered the Celtics for five years. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016, and it currently ranks as the #1 Boston Celtics podcast on iTunes and Spotify rankings. He is also one of the co-hosts of the Locked on NBA podcast.Odds to Win the Eastern Conference Ahead of NBA Playoffs: Celtics Favored Over Cavaliers, Knicks, Pistons
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