The second-round matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics is projected to be a good old-fashioned slugfest between two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. It’s the second seed versus the third seed. One team went to the Finals the season before and the other has an MVP candidate.
Most compelling storyline
There is a huge cloud hovering over this series with Joel Embiid doubtful for Game 1 with a knee injury.
Embiid is the best player heading into this series as one of the frontrunners for the MVP award. He led the league in scoring for the second straight time after averaging 33.1 points in the regular season alongside 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He scored 52 points in April against the Celtics (who were without Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams III in that game).
Losing Embiid will be disastrous for the Sixers and for Embiid himself on a personal level. Since “The Process” finally made a breakthrough in 2018 by making the playoffs, the team has not made it into the Conference Finals. Whether it be injuries or bad luck, including the fabled Kawhi Leonard shot in 2019, the Sixers have not had success in the postseason for the last five seasons. Embiid himself hasn’t translated his regular season success into the playoffs. And even though a huge reason for that recent stretch of failures is injuries, being durable is all part of the game.
In 2021, the top-seed Sixers were upset by the Atlanta Hawks in five games. A year later, they were toppled by the Heat at home with Embiid scoring 20 points on 7-for-24 shooting in an elimination game.
Embiid is one of the best big men in the game but he still lacks a signature playoff run where his team actually wins and goes to the promised land. He needs a postseason where we could go, “Hey remember the time when Embiid averaged 30 and 15 in the playoffs ala Shaq in the early ‘00s?”
It’s unfortunate that we won’t see him at 100 percent but if there ever was a series that he can show his ability to get back on the court and play through an injury, it’s this one against the Celtics.
X-factors
Is Tyrese Maxey ready to take his game to the next level? The third-year guard is having a breakout season and has become a vital piece for Philadelphia. He was one of the standouts in the 2022 playoffs and he’s showing now that the year before wasn’t a fluke. In four games against the Nets, he was the team’s top scorer with 21.8 points on 47.1 percent field goal shooting, including 3.8 makes from deep. His quick step and burst of speed are as good as anybody in the league right now.
James Harden still possesses a ton of firepower but he’s not on an MVP level anymore. With Embiid hobbled and Harden not as explosive as before, pressure will be on Maxey.
And Maxey will be up against an elite defense by the Celtics. Boston has a lot of guys at its disposal in defending the spitfire guard. You have Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon, or Marcus Smart at the guard position alone. Then there’s the interior defense with all of Boston’s length. Maxey will definitely be challenged.
For the Celtics, eyes will be on their rookie coach Joe Mazzulla. Boston’s Game 5 loss versus Atlanta had as much to do with Trae Young’s greatness as with Mazzulla’s inexperience as a head coach. Will he make the right adjustments against the veteran Doc Rivers?
Winning blueprint
Defense will be a key talking point in this series. The Celtics had the second-best defense in the regular season with a 110.6 rating while the Sixers aren’t that far behind at 112.7, good for eighth overall.
The Sixers did their job in the first round by dismantling the star-less Nets. They shut down Mikal Bridges and every other threat Brooklyn had to offer.
The Celtics, on the other hand, eventually got the job done but not before Young carved them up. The Hawks dropped 115.8 points in six games on the Celtics who limited opponents to 111.4 in the regular season. Was that a fluke or are there glaring weaknesses in the Celtics’ vaunted defense?
Still, the Celtics have the upper hand in this category especially without Embiid anchoring the defense of the Sixers. The main thing for the Sixers is if they can stop the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Both of them can put up primetime numbers and now have a clearer lane to the hoop without Embiid.
Overall, this is the Cetlics’ series to lose, especially if Embiid doesn’t produce his MVP numbers.
