PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics have seen each other twice already in the November portion of the 2023-24 calendar. After the Celtics took Wednesday’s contest, 117-107, the teams have split the first two games of the season series.
The Sixers and the Cs matched up in the 2022 Eastern Conference semifinals with Boston prevailing in 7 games. That version of the Sixers was different compared to the one Boston has seen in the first two matchups of this season. James Harden is no longer a Sixer, but Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla doesn’t see much of a difference as Tyrese Maxey takes over.
“I don’t really think there’s much difference,” said Mazzulla. “They were tied for second in the league last year with one of the best records and they had an NBA MVP. So I think just a name between Harden and Maxey at the helm looks different because he’s younger, he’s faster and he’s a little bit more dynamic at this point. But at the end of the day, they have a dangerous two-man pick-and-roll combination and they have the same role players that are really good.”
Harden may have led the league in assists in the 2022-23 season, but Maxey has stepped in and Philadelphia’s offense hasn’t missed a beat. They’re still tough to defend. Maxey has taken steps forward as a playmaker to combine with his scoring ability.
The Sixers have also surrounded Maxey and Joel Embiid with players who know their roles and play them to perfection. Mazzulla made sure to highlight that and cited Philadelphia’s win back on Nov. 8 over Boston.
“As much as you have to worry about, the Maxey-Embiid pick-and-roll which is a Harden-Embiid pick-and-roll, you have to worry about the other guys getting out in transition and affecting the game,” Mazzulla continued. “It felt like last game we were here that 39-point second quarter was what cost us the game because their second unit just buried us on the glass and they got out in transition and they missed five open transition 3s at the start of the game that they made those transition plays in the second quarter.”
Either way, just because the name has changed from Harden to Maxey, it doesn’t make Philadelphia any less dangerous. Mazzulla has seen that while evaluating the Sixers on the floor.
“This team’s dangerous because you got to take away their two-man combination,” Mazzulla finished. “But at the same time, you can’t forget about their role players who are really good.”
These two teams will match up again on Dec. 1 in Boston.
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