Keagan Smith dives into his pick and prediction for the Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers matchup on Tuesday night as part of the six-game NBA slate.
Tuesday’s NBA slate consists of just six games throughout the evening, but most of these matchups look quite fun with plenty of betting appeal. At 8 p.m. EST, a couple of Eastern Conference rivals face off as the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers go head-to-head. Will this scrappy C’s roster shut down a high-scoring Sixers lineup?
Here’s a Celtics vs. 76ers prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday’s game.
Celtics vs. 76ers prediction, preview
Through the opening weeks of the campaign, the Celtics are 5-6 while the 76ers are 6-4. Both sides are hovering around the .500 mark in the middle of the Eastern Conference, but the expectations for both are in different stratospheres. Boston is in the midst of a retool with Jayson Tatum (Achilles) sidelined indefinitely, while Philadelphia looks to push for the postseason with added firepower thanks to a handful of young talents.
The Celtics hang their hat on defense first and foremost, holding opponents to the second-fewest PPG of any team while grinding them down with one of the league’s slowest paces. It’s an understandable shift with their superstar rehabbing a major injury, but in the meantime, Jaylen Brown has emerged as the lead option with 28.0 PPG. Outside of the star wing, several guards are next in the pecking order — Payton Pritchard (15.5 PPG, 5.1 AST) and Derrick White (14.9 PPG, 5.1 AST) both slot in as starters in major roles while offseason acquisition Anfernee Simons averages 15.0 PPG off the bench. Neemias Queta and Sam Hauser round out the remainder of the starting five, so it’s not too difficult to see why Boston sits 24th in scoring due to the lack of star power. Despite falling 26th in TS%, the Celtics are still 13th in OFFRTG and 12th in NETRTG as well.
The Sixers take the opposite approach and prefer to score a deluge of points rather than grind games out on the defensive side. They’re fourth in both PPG and OFFRTG thanks to an arsenal of talented scorers — Tyrese Maxey’s 33.2 PPG leads the league while also contributing 8.2 AST, and the quartet of Joel Embiid, Kelly Oubre Jr., Quentin Grimes and VJ Edgecombe all average between 16-20 PPG as well. However, Embiid (knee) won’t play tonight, so one of Andre Drummond or Adem Bona slot in at center in the starting lineup. Even without Embiid, the Sixers have plenty of firepower with Maxey on fire from deep at 44.1% as well as Oubre and Grimes shooting 38.3% or better. Defensively, Philadelphia sits 20th in opponent PPG and 22nd in DEFRTG, though the team still ranks 10th in NETRTG. The 76ers also sit 14th in TS%.
Celtics vs. 76ers pick, best bet
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Celtics are -1.5 favorites on the road with -122 odds to win on the Moneyline. The 76ers hold +102 odds to win outright with a game total of 231.5.
Unstoppable offense meets unstoppable defense in this matchup — what’s not to love? Boston may not be above .500 but has managed to weather the first weeks without its star at a respectable level, and its players are clearly bought in when it comes to the defensive scheme. Their gritty, slow-it-down style has kept things competitive, plus we saw them hold Philadelphia to 108 points last time these teams played on October 31. The Celtics won that contest by just one point, and it’s worth noting Embiid did play.
However, the 76ers won the first matchup against the Celtics back on October 22, also by one point. In that one, Embiid scored just four points and didn’t make much of an impact beyond the boards, and the Sixers still finished with 117 points. Tonight’s game could truly go either way, but if there’s one certainty, it’ll probably end up a close game. One of the past meetings went over tonight’s total while the other went under, but with Philly’s star big man sidelined, I like the under on Tuesday.
Top pick: Under 231.5 points (-110)
