Celtics vs. Sixers Battle for Top Spot: 3 Keys, Injury Report, and a Prediction

The top two teams in the East face off as Jaylen Brown plays his first regular-season game against the Boston Celtics since this summer’s trade that sent him to Philadelphia. It’s also the first official meeting between the teams since the playoffs (they played two preseason games) and Philly’s rally to beat Boston in the first round.

Records: Celtics 8-2 (3-2 road), 76ers 9-2 (4-1 home)

Broadcast Details

Tip-off: 8:00 PM ET, Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia
TV: NBC Sports Boston, NBC / Peacock.

Projected Starters

Celtics: Derrick White, Paul George, Jordan Walsh, Jayson Tatum, Neemias Queta
Sixers: Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Joel Embiid

Officials:

James Capers (#19), Ed Malloy (#7), Intae Hwang (#73)

Injury Report

Celtics: None
Sixers: Ariel Hukporti (Achilles tear) is out for the season. Adem Bona (Cervical Spine Strain) and Dominick Barlow (Low Back Stress Reaction) are also out.

Here's your full-season Celtics guide, with the full roster, schedule, salaries, and more.

Season Series

This is the first of four meetings this season.

The Teams Coming In

Boston has won three in a row and seven of its last eight. On Sunday, they beat Milwaukee 117-97 on the road. Paul George scored 27 on 11-18 shooting, and Jayson Tatum had 21 points and six assists before sitting out the fourth quarter. Boston allows 104.3 points per game, fourth-fewest in the league, and outscores opponents by 10.7 points a game.

Philadelphia lost 119-95 at Cleveland on Friday, then beat Chicago 127-121 on Sunday. Brown scored 29, Maxey 27, James a season-high 22, and Embiid had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Three Keys to the Game

Protect the rim: The Sixers generate a blistering 1.18 Points Per Shot (PPS) at the rim on a 59.0% Effective Field Goal percentage (eFG%). Meanwhile, pull-up jumpers (0.77 PPS) and deep mid-range shots (0.65 PPS) are killing the Sixers offensively. So the plan should be to chase over the top of screens and entice the Sixers to shoot mid-range shots with drop coverage.

Avoid foul trouble: Joel Embiid and LeBron James love to live at the line and bait defenders into fouls. Neemias Queta is foul-prone and Mitchell Robinson is still a step slow as he works his way into shape. I give Luka Garza all the respect in the world, but he CANNOT guard Embiid. He might be able to thrive in the non-Embiid minutes, but not against him. The other centers need to defend without fouling. Discipline is key.

Side note: I would not put it past Joe Mazzulla to throw Garza out there against Embiid if Maxey, Brown, or Edgecomb is cooking. One way to stall the Sixers offense is to get Embiid demanding the ball against Garza. I don’t know if it would work, but if we see a perimeter guy get hot, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Mazzulla sacrifice Garza as a way to muck up the game.

Weaponize Jaylen Brown: Distract him. Get him too focused on himself. And if he’s determined to take Jayson Tatum out of the offense, then run Tatum off the ball and make Brown run through every screen in the world. Maybe they use Tatum’s actions as a decoy to create space for Paul George or Derrick White to drive.

I can see Mazzulla using a very martial arts mindset of using the opponent’s momentum against him, pulling Brown out of help because he’s hyper-focused on some rivalry with Tatum.

Prediction

I don’t think Jaylen Brown can resist temptation, so I think he’s going to try to personally hang 50 on the Celtics tonight. That's a recipe for disaster, in my opinion, for the Sixers, who not only need to run through Tyrese Maxey, but need to find ways to get LeBron James and Joel Embiid going a little bit more.

I also think Joe Mazzulla knows every weakness Brown has, and will be waiting with late doubles and jumps on his spin moves to force turnovers, either by stripping him clean or getting into passing lanes.

I still think this game is a close one, but I think Brown will have a lot of turnovers that lead to a Celtics 109-103 win.

Make sure you come back for postgame coverage here on Celtics On SI, and on the Locked On Celtics podcast.

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