The Sixers get Boston in the playoffs with a shot at something Philadelphia has not done since 1983: beat the Celtics in a postseason series. The 76ers, the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, are facing a familiar opponent with a very different mix of available players and pressure attached to every possession.
Joel Embiid’s chances of playing are described as slim as he recovers from an appendectomy, leaving Philadelphia to sort out a series without its centerpiece unless his condition improves quickly. That matters because the Sixers are 0-for-3 against Boston in playoff series in the Embiid era, and this one arrives with Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre and Quentin Grimes identified as important pieces for the matchup.
The history between the teams is part of what gives this series its edge. Philadelphia has only met Boston once since November, and the last matchup came on March 1, when Neemias Queta scored a career-high 27 points. But the Celtics that played then are not the Celtics waiting now. They did not have Jayson Tatum in that earlier meeting, and he is back in the lineup for a team that started the season at.500 before settling into an identity built on being the harder-playing group that limits rim attempts.
That shift changes the terms of the series. Noa Dalzell said the Celtics were a completely different team when the clubs previously faced off, and added that they are more dangerous with Tatum back because he is central to everything they do. She also said Embiid definitely makes the 76ers better, but called Boston’s edge in this matchup a key difference.
Paul George did not play in any of the four regular-season matchups, which gives Philadelphia another variable Boston did not have to solve until now. That makes this playoff meeting less like a replay of the season and more like a new test of whether the Sixers can finally break through against a rival that has repeatedly had their number.
