Celtics coach Brad Stevens calls Ben Simmons-less Sixers ‘a heck of a team’
Stevens praised the Sixers offense in the absence of Ben Simmons ahead of the Celtics' first-round playoff matchup.
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Some critics think the 76ers are in trouble without Ben Simmons.
Boston coach Brad Stevens is not among them. His third-seeded Celtics will face the sixth-seeded Sixers in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Game 1 is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday.
The Celtics have paid attention to the Sixers, realizing they would be a likely opponent.
“They are a heck of a team,” Stevens said Thursday following a 96-90 loss to the Washington Wizards. “The games that Simmons hasn’t played, they’re the number-one offense in the league.”
Stevens has noticed the solid spacing and shooting around Joel Embiid while he’s posting up. Stevens also noted the Sixers’ ability to play big with both Embiid and Al Horford, and to go small with Embiid or Horford at center surrounded by shooters, and said it makes the Sixers “very tough.”
“Super physical, well-coached, good basketball team,” Stevens said. “Obviously, everybody talks about their front court, rightfully so, in Tobias Harris, Horford, and Embiid.
“But they got a lot of good basketball players.”
The same can be said about the Celtics (48-24). Their loss to the struggling Wizards had a lot to do with the resting of players. Boston sat Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Daniel Theis, and Marcus Smart.
Boston had a four-game winning streak before the loss against the Wizards (25-47). The victory enabled the Wizards to avoid finishing 0-8 in seeding games.
After taking off Friday, the Celtics will spend the next couple of days preparing for the Sixers (42-30).
Some may say the Sixers have an advantage after winning three of this season’s four regular-season games. Philadelphia prevailed by an average of 10.3 points in the first three before suffering a 116-95 road loss on Feb. 1.
Embiid had the second-worst shooting performance of his NBA career in the loss, making only 1 of 11 shots while finishing with 11 points. That kept the Sixers from sweeping their longtime Atlantic Division rival in a season series for the first time since 2000-01.
“We know that they are going to come out hard,” Semi Ojeleye said of the Sixers. “Like I said, they are a great team. We have to make sure that we are emotionally ready to compete, and from there, everything else will take care of itself.”
The teams will meet in the playoffs for the second time in three seasons and for the 22nd time dating back to when the Sixers were the Syracuse Nationals. Boston has won the last four playoff series and 13 total.