What’s at stake for Celtics, Sixers in first matchup of the season

What’s at stake for Celtics, Sixers in first matchup of the season originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics have enjoyed a lot of success against the Philadelphia 76ers since the 2016-17 season. They are 3-0 in playoff series with a 15-12 regular season record (5-3 in the last two years) versus the Sixers over that span.

These bitter rivals’ first head-to-head matchup of the 2023-24 season is Wednesday night in Philadelphia, and even though it’s just an early November game, it’s a huge opportunity for both teams to make a strong statement to the oppnent and the rest of the NBA

You could make a case that these two teams are the class of the Eastern Conference. The Celtics and Sixers enter this matchup with identical 5-1 records atop the East standings. Boston’s only loss came in overtime Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road. The Sixers’ lone defeat was to the Milwaukee Bucks in their season opener.

From a statistical standpoint, these teams are on fire to begin the season. Trading away James Harden has, unsurprisingly, made the Sixers a better team.

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In many ways, this is a much more important game for the Sixers than the Celtics.

Philly hasn’t reached the conference finals since 2001. They have lost in the second round five of the last six seasons, including a horrific 24-point loss in Game 7 last year when Jayson Tatum scored 51 points.

Winning on Wednesday night won’t change what happened back in May, but it can give the Sixers more confidence that they can beat a revamped Celtics squad. And for Philly, it all starts with Joel Embiid. The reigning league MVP leads all players in scoring at 32.5 points per game. He scored 48 in the Sixers’ win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.

Embiid has had too many lackluster performances against the Celtics in his career. Game 7 in the second round last year is probably at the top of the list. The superstar center scored just 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting with four turnovers.

The Celtics are even better equipped to defend Embiid this season after adding center Kristaps Porzingis in the offseason to go with Al Horford, who has defended Embiid quite well in recent years. Embiid has to show he can win these matchups, because if he doesn’t, it’s going to be awfully tough for Philly to beat Boston four times in a seven-game series in the spring.

Another super important player for the 76ers in their matchup with the Celtics is Tyrese Maxey. The 23-year-old guard has benefited the most from Harden’s departure. He’s averaging career highs in pretty much every stat, including points per game (25.5), assists per game (7.3), rebounds per game (4.5), minutes per game (37.2), field goal percentage (50.0), 3-point percentage (44.2) and free throw percentage (93.3).

Maxey looks like a legit No. 2 on a contending team, and going up against the Celtics’ defensive trio of Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown will be a great test for the Sixers’ rising star.

Tyrese Maxey finished with 11 assists and zero turnovers tonight.

Second time this season with 8+ assists and no turnovers. Super impressive development for him to facilitate with this volume while taking care of the ball. pic.twitter.com/koI58c89Ag

— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) November 7, 2023

Wednesday’s game is big for the Celtics, too. Despite a hot start to the season, they still have a few things to figure out.

Execution late in close games needs to be better. Turnovers, bad shots and poor one-on-one defense hurt them late in the fourth quarter and overtime of Monday’s loss to the Timberwolves. They also committed 18 turnovers against the T-Wolves. Turnovers will hurt even more against a Sixers squad that loves to get out in transition, evidenced by their league-leading 21.3 fast break points per game.

This matchup is also a good opportunity for Holiday to make a statement. He’s played well overall to begin his Celtics tenure, but his shooting percentages are all down compared to last year. Holiday shot 4-for-16 versus the Timberwolves, including a 0-for-4 mark from beyond the arc in 42 minutes played.

The Celtics-Sixers rivalry is one of the best in league history, and it’s also among the very best right now. These teams don’t like each other, and that comes from 16 playoff games since 2018.

Wednesday night’s showdown is the perfect time for these teams to make a statement with a convincing victory. For the Celtics, a win would plant another seed of doubt in the minds of the Sixers in the event they meet again come playoff time. For the Sixers, a victory would help prove they are a different and more formidable challenger to the Celtics without Harden.