Philadelphia 76ers (10-17) at Boston Celtics (22-7) Game #30 12/25/24

The Celtics are hosting Philadelphia 76ers for a Christmas Day matchup. This is the first of 4 matches between these two teams this season. They will meet twice in Philadelphia on February 2nd and February 20th and will meet for a second time in Boston on March 6th. The Celtics won the series 3-1 last season, with the 76ers winning the first meeting in Philadelphia and the Celtics winning the last 3 games of the season.

The 76ers had quite a turnover in players this season and that may be one of the reasons for their struggles this season so far. They added Paul George, Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon and Guerschon Yabusele. They also drafted Jared McCain and Adem Bona. They lost Mo Bamba, Robert Covington, Tobias Harris, Buddy Hield, Cameron Payne, Paul Reed, Nicolas Batum, Darius Bazley and DeAnthony Melton.

Even though Joel Embiid says this isn’t a rivalry because the Celtics always win, it definitely has the potential to be a division rivalry. The Celtics are 270-197 all-time against the 76ers, and they are 157-56 all-time in games played in Boston. The Celtics and 76ers have met 22 times in NBA playoff history. Of those 22 playoff series, the Celtics have won 15 of them.

The Celtics are 2nd in the East, falling to 3.5 games behind the first place Cavaliers, who have won their last 5 games. They are 3 games ahead of 3rd place New York, who have won 4 games in a row, and 4 games ahead of 4th place Orlando, who just beat the Celtics on Monday. Celtics are 11-4 at home and 6-4 in their last 10 games. They are 20-5 against Eastern Conference opponents. They are looking to get back on track after losing to the Magic on Monday.

The 76ers are 12th in the East. They were expected to challenge the Celtics at the top of the East, but not much has gone right for them so far, and they sit 14.5 games out of first place. They are 4 games behind 6th place Miami and 1.5 games behind 10th place Detroit. They are 4 games ahead of 13th place Charlotte. They are 5-8 on the road and 7-3 in their last 10 games. They are 9-10 against Eastern Conference teams and are looking for their second straight win.

After this Christmas Day game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Celtics will complete a 4 game homestand. After Philly, they will face Indiana twice and then Toronto. They will then embark on a 4 game western road trip through Minnesota, Ime Udoka’s Houston RocketsOklahoma City and Denver. They return home to face 2 more Western teams, Sacramento and New Orleans. They then head to Toronto before facing Orlando and Atlanta at home.

This Christmas Day game against the Celtics is the first game of a 6-game road trip for the 76ers. After this game, they travel to Utah, Portland, Sacramento, Golden State and Brooklyn. After the road trip, they return home for 3 games, hosting Phoenix, Washington and New Orleans. They then go back on the road for a game in Orlando and return home for games against Oklahoma City and New York.

The Celtics got Sam Hauser back on Monday after he sat out 3 games with back spasms. It looked like the Celtics would finally have a full roster, but at the last minute, Jayson Tatum was ruled out due to an illness. He is questionable for this game. Derrick White has been added to the injury list with right hamstring tightness and is also questionable. Jrue Holiday is questionable with a sprain to his right shoulder. All 3 are listed as a game time decision. I have listed the regular starters in the hope that they are able to go. I’m not sure who would start if anyone or everyone is out.

The 76ers are healthier than they have been for much of the season. Paul George has only played 17 of the 76ers 27 games and Joel Embiid has only played 8 of their 27 games. Maxey has played 21 of the 27 games. All 3 are expected to play in this game. Andre Drummond is questionable with a toe injury. Jarerd McCain is out with a knee injury and KJ Martin is out with a foot injury. Eric Gordon probably has an injury in his mouth.

Probable Celtics starters

Celtic’s reserves
Luke Kornet
Al Horford
Payton Pritchard
Nehemiah Queta
Baylor Scheierman
Jaden Springer
Jordan Walsh
Xavier Tillman
Sam Hauser

2 way players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anthony Watson

Injuries/Out
Derrick White (hamstring) questionable
Jrue Holiday (shoulder) questionable
Jayson Tatum (illness) questionable

Head coach
Joe Mazzulla

Likely 76ers starters

76ers reserves
Adem Bona
Ricky Council IV
Reggie Jackson
Kyle Lowry
Caleb Martin

2 way players
Jeff Dowtin, Jr
Justin Edwards
Pete Nance

Injuries/Out
Andre Drummond (toe) questionable
Eric Gordon (mouth) probably
Jared McCain (knee) out
KJ Martin (foot) out

Head coach
Nick nurse

Key matchups

Kristaps Porzingis vs Joel Embiid
Embiid has only played 8 games so far but is expected to be healthy for this game. He is averaging 20.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1 block per game. He is shooting 41.7% from the field and just 21.2% from beyond the arc. I expect to see Al Horford defend him at least part of the time because he has been effective against him in the past.

Jaylen Brown vs. Paul George
This should be a good matchup between two of the better small forwards in the league. George is averaging 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game. match. He is shooting 41.4% from the field and 33% from beyond the arc. Both of these players are good defenders and that will make it harder for both to score. Brown is coming off a big game on Monday and hopefully he’ll still be hot for this one.

Honorable mention
Jrue Holiday vs Tyrese Maxey
Maxey has blossomed now that he has the keys to the team. Maxey is averaging 24.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. He is shooting 41.6% from the field and 33.7% from beyond the arc. He is very fast and difficult to stay with in the open court. I hope Holiday and White can both play. If not, we could see Payton Pritchard get going.

Keys to the game
Defense – Defense will always be the key to winning every game. The Celtics are 7th in the league with a defensive rating of 109.3. The 76ers are 13th with a defensive rating of 112.2. The 76ers are 29th in the league with an average of 105.9 points per game. match. The Celtics are in 4th place with an average of 119.1 points per game. match. The Celtics need to step up their efforts on the defensive end even more. They need to make defense their priority for every possession of the game because that’s how they want to win.

Rebound – Rebounding is the second defense as a key to winning. The Celtics are 8th in the league and pull 45.1 rebounds per game. game, while the 76ers are 28th with 40.6 rebounds per game. match. It takes effort to get rebounds and the Celtics will have to go all out in their efforts to beat the Sixers on the boards. The Celtics also need to give themselves extra possessions by rebounding on the offensive end and keeping the 76ers from getting 2nd chance points on the defensive end. If the Celtics want to win this one, it is imperative that they go all out to crash the boards.

Play Hard 48 Minutes – The Celtics must start strong and play hard for 48 minutes, right until the final buzzer. The Celtics also need to play hard throughout the game and not get complacent if they are up. The Celtics can’t let the 76ers build a lead, and they can’t let up if they can build a lead themselves. The Celtics sometimes tend to play down teams with bad records or who are missing players, but they can’t do that with these 76ers because they have enough talent to beat them if they are less than 100% effort. They must play hard from the opening tip to the final buzzer without letting up. Also, the team that is more aggressive and plays harder usually gets the better whistle from the referees.

3 point shooting – The Celtics lead the league in 3-point attempts per game. match with 50.4 per match. They also lead the league in 3-pointers at 18.3 per game. match. When the 3s fall, the Celtics are hard to beat, but when the 3s don’t fall, they look terrible. Against the Magic, the Celtics took just 33 three-pointers and made just 8 of them. They won’t beat many teams that shoot less than 25% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to focus on taking good shots and making them, and if the 3s aren’t falling again, go to the basket.

The X-Factors
Home game – The Celtics have been a good home team with only 4 defeats at home so far this season. The 76ers are 5-8 on the road so far. Teams strive for home court advantage for a reason and the Celtics need to take advantage of having the crowd behind them and being on their home court. Hopefully the 76ers will be distracted by travel, a hotel stay and a hostile crowd.

Official – Officiating is always an x-factor. Each team calls the play differently. Some call it tight and call every bit of contact, while others allow more physical play. Some favor the home team, while others call both sides equal. Some give out technical things like Christmas candy. The Celtics need to adjust to the way the refs call the game and not allow no calls and bad calls to affect their focus on playing the game.

And be sure to check out the CelticsBlog’s Playback stream for live chat about the game. To join, just create a free account, link your LP sub if you have one, and join our community.