Celtics get Philly in the first round

[PAOBoston]

Pre-Simmons getting hurt I would have been super concerned about facing Philly and their size. Even without Simmons they have size to give the Cs fits but that’s a steep drop in talent on the defensive end and I’m not sure Philly has the offensive firepower to keep up. Embiid will get his this series that is for sure. Will also be very curious to see how the matchup with Big Al will go. He’ll likely have to matchup vs Hayward if Al starts.

[footey]

Our biggest problem vs Sixers this season was Ben Simmons.  He was nearly impossible to stop in transition, he defends our best wings well, and he even showed an ability to hurt us in half court offense. 

With Simmons out of the picture, Philly will have to depend heavily on Embiid. I never worry about Embiid the way I worry about Giannis.  He is very inconsistent, and lacks stamina to play hard throughout a series.

Al Horford is not the same player he was with Boston.

I see this series going Boston in 5 or 6. I would not be surprised if Philly took the first game, just because they will play super hard, and teams that lose their stars often play well first time out (e.g. Miami sans Butler).  But our team is so locked in, healthy, and mature.  I am very confident we will be fine.

[Neurotic Guy]

Our biggest problem vs Sixers this season was Ben Simmons.  He was nearly impossible to stop in transition, he defends our best wings well, and he even showed an ability to hurt us in half court offense. 

With Simmons out of the picture, Philly will have to depend heavily on Embiid. I never worry about Embiid the way I worry about Giannis.  He is very inconsistent, and lacks stamina to play hard throughout a series.

Al Horford is not the same player he was with Boston.

I see this series going Boston in 5 or 6. I would not be surprised if Philly took the first game, just because they will play super hard, and teams that lose their stars often play well first time out (e.g. Miami sans Butler).  But our team is so locked in, healthy, and mature.  I am very confident we will be fine.

Footey -- I've seen very little of Horford this season (or in the bubble). Is he really a shell of himself?

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Our biggest problem vs Sixers this season was Ben Simmons.  He was nearly impossible to stop in transition, he defends our best wings well, and he even showed an ability to hurt us in half court offense. 

With Simmons out of the picture, Philly will have to depend heavily on Embiid. I never worry about Embiid the way I worry about Giannis.  He is very inconsistent, and lacks stamina to play hard throughout a series.

Al Horford is not the same player he was with Boston.

I see this series going Boston in 5 or 6. I would not be surprised if Philly took the first game, just because they will play super hard, and teams that lose their stars often play well first time out (e.g. Miami sans Butler).  But our team is so locked in, healthy, and mature.  I am very confident we will be fine.

Footey -- I've seen very little of Horford this season (or in the bubble). Is he really a shell of himself?

Al Horford has always been a player that impacted the game in ways the box score couldn't quantify. The box score is down a bit this year, but his overall impact is as well because the Sixers don't know how to build a roster and Brown doesn't know how to use him and Embiid/Simmons aren't easy to play around.

I think he could be dangerous again pretty easily with a bit of a reset of the their roster with Simmons injury and Embiid's injuries.

[Donoghus]

The Simmons injury is obviously very beneficial for the C's.   The way the cards fell, I'm very happy with this matchup.  Celtics are healthy and they seem to be getting it together at the right time.

This series really should be over in 4-5 games.  Let's hope that's the case.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Seriously, guys, don't underestimate the Sixers. They would still have the best player in the series. Harris and Richardson are both really good basketball players that have consistently outplayed Brown and Tatum. Horford is a tough matchup for the Cs that provides just enough veteran craftiness to possibly outwit the Cs young talent and athleticism.

Milton and Thybulle both have athleticism and talent that might blossom with more minutes and opportunity.

[Rikibellevie]

Very happy also to face them. It will be intense, physical and Embid will give all his grit first games, as we know he is seeing us a little as their black sheep. They still have a good defense but loosing Simmons will handicap them a lot, letting us moore developping our game, lossing her huge size and atleticism advantage. But offensivelly also, because he was the main option to break the lines and dynamise their game. Outside we have a huge advantage on ballhandling and logically on outside shoot, where they are bad and predictable.

We don't undernestimate them I guess, but we have faith on our team to be 100% on it. They look a little like us last year, with bad team chemistry, some coaching questions and a bad mood. We know how we finished ... We re big favorite against them, and if we pass, I even  think we are (by a little) against Raptors. Hope no injury, and proove all the gaps, individual and collectiv, that we made this year

[slamtheking]

earlier in the season, a thread was created asking people who they hoped the C's would face (or more specifically, avoid) in the playoffs.  I posted I wanted Philly, Toronto, Milwaukee and the Lakers.  No title is as satisfying or unquestioned when you play and beat the best.  That, and beating the Sixers in the playoffs is always sweet and nothing is as ultimately satisfying as beating the Lakers for a title.

looks like this is just how the playoffs are going to go for the C's at least until the Finals.

TP I totally agree. Gotta play the best to beat the best, to mean the most.

Then yuo should want the Clippers because they are better than the Lakers.

Lakers have the best record in the West, they have LeBum and AD (who spurned coming to the C's) so as much as it pains me to say they're the best in that conference, I'm leaning that direction so that's 3 reasons I want to see them in the finals -- beating the best, beating the Lakers specifically and beating Lebron specifically.

[slamtheking]

earlier in the season, a thread was created asking people who they hoped the C's would face (or more specifically, avoid) in the playoffs.  I posted I wanted Philly, Toronto, Milwaukee and the Lakers.  No title is as satisfying or unquestioned when you play and beat the best.  That, and beating the Sixers in the playoffs is always sweet and nothing is as ultimately satisfying as beating the Lakers for a title.

looks like this is just how the playoffs are going to go for the C's at least until the Finals.

TP I totally agree. Gotta play the best to beat the best, to mean the most.

Then yuo should want the Clippers because they are better than the Lakers.

A Clippers-Celtics series would be very entertaining! The quality of basketball would be exceptional and the games would all be very close. Two well-designed, evenly matched teams.

it would be very entertaining.  I think the C's could beat them -- 2 exceptionally close games this year between them.

what concerns me with Brad resting the starters in the last game is that the Clips and C's are dead even in the standings.  even though HCA isn't much in the bubble as opposed to what it usually is, I'd still like to see the C's get it for whatever advantage it can provide.  C's should be able to beat Wash in the last game but without a single top-6 player on the floor, that will be extremely difficult.  Clips going against OKC in their final game tomorrow would seem to give the C's a great opportunity to lock up HCA over the Clips if they meet in the finals.  hate seeing that possible advantage tossed away

[keevsnick]

Well on the one hand the C's have nobody who can stop Embiid, and the fact that Simmons is now out means Phili will now be playing 4 guys around Embiid who can shoot whether that's with Horford at the 4 or Harris at the 4 with another guard/wing. That makes it a lot harder to double Embiid in the post. So Embiid may eat.

On the other hand it doesn't seem to me that there's enough other talent out there right now for Phili to win 4 out of 7 even if Embiid dominates. They will likely struggle to contain the c's perimeter scoring, Josh Richardson is a good defender but Milton and Harris are okay at best and Horford may not have the foot speed to stay with who ever he matches up against. Not having an elite wing defender in Simmons really hurts them.

[Jvalin]

what concerns me with Brad resting the starters in the last game is that the Clips and C's are dead even in the standings.  even though HCA isn't much in the bubble as opposed to what it usually is, I'd still like to see the C's get it for whatever advantage it can provide.  C's should be able to beat Wash in the last game but without a single top-6 player on the floor, that will be extremely difficult.  Clips going against OKC in their final game tomorrow would seem to give the C's a great opportunity to lock up HCA over the Clips if they meet in the finals.  hate seeing that possible advantage tossed away

What advantage are you talking about? All games will be played without fans at three gyms in Orlando. Couldn't care less about the HCA this season. I'd much rather we lose and move up one spot in the draft. 

Not to mention, we aren't the favorites to win the East. If we beat Philly, we'd still have to beat the Raps and the Bucks (most likely) before playing the Clips (assuming they make it to the Finals). Let's just beat Philly first and we'll go from there.

[SparzWizard]

what concerns me with Brad resting the starters in the last game is that the Clips and C's are dead even in the standings.  even though HCA isn't much in the bubble as opposed to what it usually is, I'd still like to see the C's get it for whatever advantage it can provide.  C's should be able to beat Wash in the last game but without a single top-6 player on the floor, that will be extremely difficult.  Clips going against OKC in their final game tomorrow would seem to give the C's a great opportunity to lock up HCA over the Clips if they meet in the finals.  hate seeing that possible advantage tossed away

What advantage are you talking about? All games will be played without fans at three gyms in Orlando. Couldn't care less about the HCA this season. I'd much rather we lose and move up one spot in the draft. 

Not to mention, we aren't even the favorites to win the East. If we beat Philly, we'd still have to beat the Raps and the Bucks (most likely) before playing the Clips (assuming they make it to the Finals). Let's just beat Philly first and we'll go from there.

Yeah it's not even a given that they would beat Philly. For Boston, this is their series to lose. After that, they have a brutal path to the finals. As for the Clippers talk- who knows, maybe they might get bounced by Denver/Utah or maybe even to Dallas or late to the Lakers if they meet in the West. No home-court advantage is going to be tough for some of the top-seeded teams.

[RPGenerate]

I've always thought of the Sixers as a bogeyman of sorts, especially on this site. Without Simmons it's gonna be a struggle for them to guard our 4-headed dragon. Horford is cooked, and Harris and Milton are very eh defenders. Richardson can only guard one person. Thybulle is nice on defense, but his offense is putrid. How much time will Thybulle actually get if he's a nonfactor on offense? I don't know. I think winning in 5 or 6 games is a fair prediction.

[Phantom255x]

First round schedule released. Times for Games 5-7 not determined yet



6:30 PM EST start times might feel a bit weird I'll admit lol.

[bello_man09]

they're leading the season series right...we have to go in with that mentality like we are underdogs and kick their ass. JB needs to play better against philly, his numbers are not the best against them...their defense was good before covid not sure about now.