The Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics face-off on Monday to begin the 2020 NBA Playoffs for the second time in three seasons. The Sixers are entering this series as heavy underdogs missing the services of Ben Simmons and Glenn Robinson III as well, but they are ready for a fight in this one.
Sixers Wire has called upon the help of Justin Quinn who is the editor of our sister site, Celtics Wire to help preview this series. We helped him out with their own preview here.
With that being said, here is what Quinn had to offer on how the Sixers can win and lose this series.
What does Philadelphia need to do to win this series?
In a word? Score. The Sixers may be down one of their best players, but they aren’t a helpless pushover because of it — far from it, actually. Without Simmons, the 76ers are one of the NBA’s best offenses this season, and more suited to the halfcourt game one tends to see more of in the postseason to boot.
There are definitely ways this can be exploited for the Celtics, but it’s not enough to simply say that, as it involves slowing down All-Star center Joel Embiid, and there’s a whole boatload of “oof” coming Boston’s way if they think that task will be an easy one.
But, with the core of their defensive identity healing up outside of the Disney restart bubble, the path to a series victory lies in scoring through Embiid and shooters surrounding him, making the Celtics pay if they try to double Embiid in the post.
What does Boston need to do to win this series?
Most importantly, by respecting their opponent. If Boston treats this in any way like a foregone conclusion because of Simmons’ injury, they’ll find their season over and their bags packed before the confetti hits the floor — and this time it won’t be premature.
But as to a more tactical response, by tiring Embiid out. They don’t have the roster make-up to stop him, but they do have the muscle in Enes Kanter to make him work in the post, and the shooting in Kemba Walker, their wings and importantly, Daniel Theis, to make the big man have to expend a lot of energy guarding the perimeter as well.
If the Celtics can make Embiid tired early and often in this series, they’ll have their best chance at keeping the series to the fewest games possible and a win. Cockiness really could lead to a swift and surprising exit, though.
Prediction
A closer series than most predict, likely six games for a Celtics win, or seven and a Sixers win if hubris trips up the Massachusetts franchise. But given what we’ve been seeing from Boston so far, the six-game Celtics win outcome is the more likely of the two. [lawrence-related id=36880,36877,36883]