Highlights
- The Boston Celtics are favored to win, with injuries on the Philadelphia 76ers’ side.
- Expect Boston to dominate inside and Jaylen Brown to score over 19.5 points.
- Philadelphia must rely on Maxey and Harris to offset lack of inside defense.
The Boston Celtics are seeking their ninth straight win of the season when they host the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden on Tuesday night.
They are coming off a strong victory over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Boston had star Jaylen Brown score a team-high 30 points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists. Boston currently leads 2-1 in their season series against Philadelphia, as they will go for the tiebreaker.
Philadelphia hopes to get back on track after losing seven of their last 10 games. They will need excellent displays from Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, and Buddy Hield against the Celtics, as a win would keep them safe among the top six of the Eastern Conference.
Injury report and how to watch
76ers are still without Joel Embiid
Celtics
76ers
- Joel Embiid (OUT – Knee)
- Robert Covington (OUT – Knee)
- KJ Martin (QUESTIONABLE – Ankle)
How to watch
- 7:30 PM EST, TNT, NBCS-BOS
Betting Lines
The Celtics are favored to win
Point Spread: Celtics -12.5 (-105) / 76ers +12.5 (-115)
Money Line: Celtics (-525) / 76ers (+750)
Over/Under: 230.5
Our Picks
Expect Boston to dominate inside
Celtics to win (-525)
The Celtics have too much momentum going in their favor to not choose them as the winners of this matchup. What makes it more simple is that the 76ers are without Joel Embiid, who is their best rim protector as Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kristaps Porzingis will look to take advantage of the 76ers’ weakness in that area.
And it’s harder to go against Boston when the players not in the trio are making significant contributions. Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser have shown the ability to step up time and time again for the team when they are in search of a spark. White has been a notable standout, putting up 18 points, 4.5 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 steals on an astounding 61.2 percent shooting from the field and 51.6 percent from beyond the arc.
76ers +12.5 (-115)
Since Joel Embiid went down with a knee injury in the road loss to Golden State, Philadelphia has been 4-7. Opponents are outscoring them by 7.5 points, proving the concept that missing their franchise star and defensive anchor has held them back massively as they look for different solutions.
They sit fifth in the Eastern Conference, with a winning record of 33-24. However, most of those victories involved Embiid as they are 26-8 with him and 7-16 without him. They will look to Maxey, Harris, and Hield as their scoring options, who will all be crucial in how Philadelphia performs on Tuesday night. Maxey will be at the heart of it with 25.8 points, 6.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and a steal per game while Harris assists him with 17.3 points and 6.1 rebounds as the second option.
As long as Maxey and Harris fulfill their objectives, the 76ers will remain competitive for significant periods of the game. However, the team’s lack of inside defense might be too much to overcome as Boston’s offense is known for exploiting the biggest weaknesses of their opponents, especially their division rivals.
Jaylen Brown over 19.5 points (-130)
Expect Jaylen Brown to penetrate inside the paint via drive-ins or moving off the ball a lot, especially with Embiid not being there to defend inside for the 76ers. Brown is averaging 21.6 points, six rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 51.2 percent shooting from the field in his last five games. Since the end of the NBA All-Star Break, he is putting up 25 points per game on 55.6 percent shooting overall and 42.9 percent from downtown, so keep an eye on his level of aggressiveness against Philadelphia’s defense tonight.
All lines courtesy of BetMGM.
Buddy Hield, Kyle Lowry additions keeps 76ers ‘in the mix’
The Sixers hope to mitigate the loss of reigning MVP, Joel Embiid, with their new, veteran additions.
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