Sixers not leaning into underdog label against Celtics, but do know ‘we’ve got to play like hell’
The shorthanded Sixers will begin their first-round playoff series against the second-seeded Celtics on Sunday afternoon in Boston.
As the 76ers finished off Wednesday’s Play-In Tournament victory over the Orlando Magic, “We Want Boston!” chants began to reverberate throughout Xfinity Mobile Arena’s stands.
Those supporters will get their wish beginning Sunday, when a deep-rooted Sixers-Celtics rivalry renews in a first-round playoff series.
That the Sixers needed to play their way into this series is evidence that they are significant underdogs in a matchup between the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 and No. 7 seeds. So is that dominant big man Joel Embiid (appendectomy) will be sidelined for at least Game 1 at TD Garden, coach Nick Nurse confirmed following Friday’s practice.
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Yet Nurse, along with forwards Paul George and Dominick Barlow, are not exactly relishing in the status as the team attempting to pull off what would be a stunning upset.
“If we play really well and play our backsides off,” Nurse said, “then we should have a chance to do some stuff. We’ve got to do the best we can to put a great game plan together. We’ve got to get our guys locked in to go out there and execute it.
“And then we’ve got to play like hell. We’ve got to go out there and play as hard as we absolutely can.”
This is the first Sixers-Celtics playoff matchup since the 2023 second round, when the Sixers wilted late in their chance to close out the series at home in Game 6 and then flopped in a Game 7 blowout. The only players who remain on the roster from that matchup are Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, an All-NBA contender who ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring (28.3 points per game) during the regular season.
Even this version of the Celtics is much different than the one the Sixers faced throughout the regular season. The Sixers played Boston three times in their first 11 games. And in a March 1 loss, superstar wing Jayson Tatum still had not returned from an Achilles tear suffered during last year’s playoffs.
It looked like that Tatum injury — plus the departures of longtime contributors Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford — might force the Celtics into a “gap year” in 2025-26. Instead, Boston not only has been one of the NBA’s surprise teams, but remained a legitimate Finals contender.
The Celtics (56-26) during the regular season ranked in the NBA’s top five in offensive rating (second, 120 points per 100 possessions) and defensive rating (fourth, 111.7 points per 100 possessions). Jaylen Brown proved he can be a No. 1 offensive option (28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists per game), and will show up on MVP ballots.
Derrick White, a two time All-Defense selection, and Payton Pritchard, a career 39.4% three-point shooter, are top-level complementary players. Veteran center Nikola Vucevic joined the group at the trade deadline. Joe Mazzulla is a frontrunner to win NBA Coach of the Year.
And now Boston can lean into the extensive playoff experience of the Tatum-Brown core, which propelled it to the 2024 NBA title.
“They’re hard to guard, man,” Nurse said. “They’ve got an incredible offense. They shoot a ton of threes. They’ve got a bunch of guys that can take you [off the dribble]. … It’s a tremendous challenge.”
That three-point discrepancy between the Sixers and Celtics is easy to spot. During the regular season, Boston ranked third in makes (15.5 per game) and eighth in percentage (36.7%), while the Sixers ranked in the league’s bottom third in both of those categories (22nd with 12.3 makes per game, 23rd with 34.9%).
Rebounding, though, is what George characterized as the Sixers’ “Achilles heel” that must be rectified in order to challenge Boston. The Celtics ranked seventh in the NBA in offensive rebounds during the regular season (12.5 per game) — including corralling 19 for 30 second-chance points in their March 1 win over the Sixers.
“The last game we played against them, we lost because we didn’t rebound,” Barlow added. “I think that’s going to be the game.”
George’s presence, however, could be the Sixers’ wild card. The former perennial All-Star did not play in any of the four regular-season matchups due to injury or league suspension for violating its anti-drug policy.
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Nurse again highlighted George’s defensive capabilities against Tatum and Brown, two potent wing scorers. And George’s offensive resurgence — he averaged 21 points and shot 41.5% from three-point range in his 10 games after the suspension — would be more than welcomed without Embiid.
And as George wrapped his Friday media availability, he was asked why the Sixers are publicly downplaying the “underdog” label.
He did not bite.
“That sounds like a little bulletin board material right there,” he said. “We’ve given them their respect. But at the end of the day, man, it’s competition. We’ve got to go and compete. They’ve got to go and compete. That’s just what it boils down to. …
“We’re not going to back down. They’re not going to back down.”
