Al Horford, Sixers react to news of having to face Celtics in Round 1
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The Philadelphia 76ers entered the NBA resumption as the 6 seed and the 6 seed is where they will stay. Thanks to the Indiana Pacers win earlier on Wednesday, the Sixers knew their playoff fate before even tipping off with the Toronto Raptors.
Due to that development, it means that they are locked into a matchup with the Boston Celtics. Philadelphia has a storied history when it comes to the Celtics and with that, it comes with memories of 2018 when the Celtics ousted the Sixers in just five games in the semifinals.
On top of that, it means Al Horford will face his former team in the playoffs which is a story in itself.
“Coming into the bubble, we knew it was a possibility,” said Horford. “For us, it’s a great opportunity…it’s part of the business. Obviously, we’ve already played them plenty of times this year so that effect is out of the way so now we can go out there and compete and it should be a fun series.”
For coach Brett Brown, he now gets another shot at Celtics coach Brad Stevens and the Celtics. Boston got the better of Philadelphia in 2018 and now, he and the team has another shot at exacting some revenge.
“I got a lot of respect for Brad,” said Brown. “It’s true because of tons of experiences regular season and playoffs over the past few years. I think the team is very unique in that there was just so much firepower at several positions. The Philly-Celtics rival rivalry is storied. It’s historic and so to be able to have this opportunity again we’re excited, treat this series with tremendous respect, but it’s certainly one that we’re excited to compete against them.”
Tobias Harris was not in Philadelphia in 2018 so he was not there to truly experience the rivalry in playoff form, but he has one thought on the series: “My thoughts are, let’s win.”
“We all know every time Philly against Boston is a big deal,” said Furkan Korkmaz. “We start talking about matchups. How we are going to guard them, how they are going to guard us, and I think the most important thing is what are we going to do on the court? As the Sixers, how are we going to show up? I think that’s more important than how they play. We are ready to fight.”
The Sixers have one seeding game left on Friday against the Houston Rockets before playoff prep for the Celtics begins.
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