The Boston Celtics cruised into the All-Star break, while the Philadelphia 76ers limped to the first-half finish line.
The Celtics have won seven of their past eight games and the Sixers have dropped seven of eight heading into Thursday’s meeting in Philadelphia.
Included in Boston’s strong finish to the first half was a 118-110 victory over the Sixers on Feb. 2 in which the defending NBA champions rallied from a 26-point deficit late in the third quarter.
“I told the guys: In the NBA, you get a few chances to where you really see your guys do something special in the regular season and I felt like their approach to that was there,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said that day.
Needless to say, the Sixers were in a very different mood afterward.
“Tonight was unacceptable,” forward Ricky Council IV said. “I guess 26 was the highest (margin). That’s unacceptable. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We’re fighting, but we’re tired of fighting. We need to turn that fighting into a win.”
That game proved to be a measure of revenge for the Celtics, who lost at home to Philadelphia on Christmas Day. This is the third of four meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals, who will reconvene in Boston on March 6.
In the meantime, the Sixers are looking to stop the bleeding after losing their final five games heading into the break.
They absorbed a disheartening 100-96 loss to the Brooklyn Nets in their most recent game on Feb. 12. Kelly Oubre Jr. and newcomer Quentin Grimes scored 30 points apiece, but Paul George managed only two points on 1-of-7 shooting.
“They just blitzed me,” said George, whose season average of 16.1 points is down significantly from his prime years. “They just blitzed me every time I had the ball. … We got good shots for the most part. Just wasn’t enough shots made.”
Joel Embiid (knee) missed that game — in fact, he’s only played in 17 games this season — but the former MVP was a full participant at practice Tuesday.
“Good today,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said of Embiid. “Everybody looked like they had some days off and (were) fresh.”
Tyrese Maxey (knee) practiced on Tuesday, as well. Philadelphia certainly will need all of its available firepower to contend with Boston’s lineup.
Jayson Tatum wrapped up the first half of the season with 32 points and 14 rebounds in a 116-103 triumph over the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 12. He is averaging 27.0 points per game for the first-place Celtics, while Jaylen Brown adds 22.9 points per game.
Additionally, Kristaps Porzingis is coming off one of his best games of the season — a 29-point effort on 10-of-16 shooting in the win over San Antonio.
“I think the luck is starting to turn our way, and that’s it,” Porzingis said. “We’ve just got to stay with it, and I think, as I said before, I want to speak it into existence that we’re going to peak at the right moment, and we’re going to hit our stride and just look like a team that’s going to win it all again.”
–Field Level Media
