76ers Reveal Expectations vs. Boston Celtics in Round 2

The 76ers discussed expectations going against the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

It took nearly a week for the Philadelphia 76ers to find out their second-round opponent in the 2023 NBA Playoffs. As the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks needed six games to settle their series, the Sixers waited longer than expected to hear that they have a seven-game series against the Celtics on deck.

With the series becoming official on Thursday after a Celtics victory on the road against the Hawks, the Sixers could finally begin discussing the upcoming series against their Atlantic Division rivals.

“We’ve been battling them all year,” said Sixers forward PJ Tucker on Saturday. “We’ve had really good games every single contest. Just know it’s gonna be one of those series that’s gonna be physical and they’re gonna come out and come at us so we got to be ready.”

Coming off of a first-round sweep against the sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets, the Sixers are facing a notable jump in strength of competition heading into the second round. 

Against Brooklyn this season, the Sixers achieved an 8-0 record while combining matchups from the regular season and the postseason. Against the Celtics, the Sixers struggled overall, as they won just one of their four matchups when facing Boston this year.

“They’re a terrific team, they’re well-coached, they spread the floor, they attack, they’re deep, and they have a lot of weapons,” said Sixers head coach Doc Rivers. “Obviously with Tatum and Brown, but Horford, White, Brogdon, you can just keep going down the list. They just have a lot of guys that can play basketball. They are made. They’ve been to the Finals, they get it. They’ve been through any type of adversity. Nothing is gonna shake them. You got to be ready for that.”

The lopsided record in favor of Boston isn’t a great look for the Sixers heading into the second-round, where they’ve struggled in recent years. However, Sixers’ center Paul Reed believes that familiarity can play in their favor, despite struggles against the Celtics throughout the year.

“They’re still the same team as before,” Reed added. “We know how they like to defend us, how they like to score against us, the plays they run. So we’re kind of familiar with this team and just playing four times during the regular season helped us a lot just knowing like how to prepare.”

The Sixers and the Celtics will battle it out for Game 1 on Monday night. After having over a week off following the first-round sweep, the Sixers will be refreshed and ready to go on the road.