Celtics’ Semi Ojeleye preparing to face Al Horford, 76ers in 1st round

Boston Celtics forward Semi Ojeleye knows his team needs to be ready when they face the Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs Monday.

Boston Celtics reserve forward Semi Ojeleye has quietly been playing some of the best basketball of his NBA career since the NBA restart at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

While it took him a few games to warm up, over the last six games he’s been putting up 7.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game while shooting a sizzling 47.6 % from beyond the arc, showing signs of growing into the two-way player the Celtics hoped they’d drafted in 2017.

And Boston will need his offense as much as his D against the Philadelphia 76ers — particularly now that the star big man he spent his first two seasons in the league learning from — Al Horford — decamped to Philly over the summer.

And despite the fact that the 76ers will be without All-Star point forward Ben Simmons due to a knee injury, Ojeleye knows the team can’t take Philadelphia lightly.

“They’re a good team so we have to get our minds ready,” explained the SMU product speaking after Boston’s end-of-season loss to the Washington Wizards.

“We’re going to have a couple of days to prepare [and] we’re going to keep that competitive spirit. We know that they’re going to come out hard. I said they’re a great team but [we need to] make sure we’re emotionally ready to meet them.”

The potential for facing his former frontcourt mentor in particular is bittersweet for Ojeleye.

“Watching Al these last couple of years was great,” he explained, [but] we have to be ready.”

“You know he’s a high caliber player; he can hurt you in the post or from the outside. We have to prepare for him, especially now that he’s a big part of their team. So, we have to know and be aware that he’s going to be involved in a lot of what they are doing.”

With Simmons out for the duration of the series and likely the postseason, Horford will be featured much more extensively in the 76ers’ rotations with Boston.

And while head coach Brad Stevens played down the significance of their mutual familiarity on the series, it’s going to be an unusual situation even at a more superficial level.

Especially given the closeness of Horford and the Celtics when they aren’t facing each other on the court.

But don’t expect anyone to pull any punches once they are on the parquet.

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