Although the Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers met four times during the regular season, each team will have a different look Sunday afternoon when they meet in Boston for Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Boston and Philadelphia split their four games in the regular season, but three of those were played before mid-November.
The seventh-seeded 76ers didn’t play the second-seeded Celtics after Jayson Tatum returned from a ruptured Achilles, and the Boston didn’t face Philadelphia with Paul George in the lineup. George was injured when the season began and then missed games in February and part of March after he was suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy.
Tatum averaged 21.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 16 games (all starts) during the regular season.
“I remember when I got injured, there was a lot of uncertainty,” Tatum said. “The playoffs weren’t a sure thing, and now that I get that opportunity, I couldn’t be more happy.”
Tatum’s return gave the Celtics an exceptional 1-2 scoring punch, with Jaylen Brown averaging a team-high 28.7 points per game.
George has averaged 21.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists while shooting 41.5% from 3-point range in 10 games since returning from his suspension.
“I’ve had my share of playing Boston with Jayson and Jayen, so I know what to expect,” George said. “We’re playing against winners; we’re playing against champions. This is where they play their best basketball. We respect that. But we’re going to have to challenge that. They’ve been great for a couple years now. They’re a well-oiled machine over there. Great coach. Great roster. Two studs, superstars over there.”
There’s uncertainty regarding the status of Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid entering the series. Embiid had an appendectomy during the final week of the regular season, and the 76ers haven’t announced a timetable for when he will return.
Embiid was limited to 38 games this season, but averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game when he was able to take the court. The 76ers play at a slower pace when Embiid is in the lineup.
“We know we have to be at our best because they’re going to be at their best,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Philly’s a great team as you saw throughout the season. To get to this point with all the injuries that they’ve had, and to be where they’re at now, it’s going to be a tough test for us. We gotta be ready for it.”
Philadelphia secured the No. 7 seed with Wednesday’s 109-97 victory against the Orlando Magic in the play-in tournament. Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia’s leading scorer at 28.3 points per game, scored 31 points during that victory.
Boston hasn’t played since it wrapped up the regular season with a 113-108 victory over Orlando on Sunday. The Celtics won that matchup despite resting their top seven scorers.
“They’re playing great,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “They’ve played really great all season. They got a bunch of guys that have been together — I mean, a core group of guys that have been together for a long time through a lot of winning and a lot of deep runs. Tremendous, tremendous challenge for us.”
