Poll: Sixers vs. Celtics Series Predictions

[Phantom255x]

The Celtics Achilles Heel is Joe Mazzulla.

doc will coach circles around this kid.

he will have us unfocused a couple games have bad rotations and bad defensive calls and lack of timeouts and will cost us.

i will go with Celts in 6. a couple brainfarts will cots us a couple games. its pat for the course with this team. see last year even with IME.  we shoulda beat heat and bucks in 6 or less. we blew many games.

Eh idk. Doc's solid, but he's not Spo/Popovich-level. In fact he hurts the Sixers a lot as well too lol. I think this series will be all about the players. Coaches will get blamed but I feel that'll be true for both sides anyways.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I have Celtics in 5.   They get up for the 76ers.    I want to see them play 5 out on Embiid.   Make him work on defense with that injury.   Don't let him play near the basket.   Drive on him (if they try to hide him on Smart)

drive and pick n roll him to death on that bum knee.

[mobilija]

The Celtics Achilles Heel is Joe Mazzulla.

doc will coach circles around this kid.

he will have us unfocused a couple games have bad rotations and bad defensive calls and lack of timeouts and will cost us.

i will go with Celts in 6. a couple brainfarts will cots us a couple games. its pat for the course with this team. see last year even with IME.  we shoulda beat heat and bucks in 6 or less. we blew many games.

Wait....so are you saying both Mazulla and Ime were bad coaches? or maybe...this is part of who the players are?

Mazulla won us the game last nite. He pulled Smart after the missed 3s and I don't think its a coincidence that when he put Smart back in Smart was cutting to the center of the floor on those Tatum doubles. Mazulla made an adjustment and set Smart up for success.

[Vermont Green]

There is the whole rest vs. rust debate to be had here.  Game 1 is Monday, plenty of time for the Celtics to rest up, get some practice in, work on schemes for PHI.  Meanwhile, the Sixers have not played since Apr 22.  That will be over a week they have been off.

The rest is probably good for the likes of Embiid and Harden but that is a long time to have not played an actual NBA game.  Plus, I don't think even that long of a rest is really going to cure what is ailing Embiid and Harden.  Their wear and tear runs deeper than something that can be fixed with a week of rest.  The rest is better for Embiid and Harden than not having rest but I am not sure that for the the team overall, that this extended layoff is going to be a net plus.

The bottom line is I think the Celtics should be fine against the Sixers.  ATL is a better team than I think a lot of people gave them credit for, so I don't feel that losing a couple to them is any kind of an indication of Celtics weakness.  The Celtics will not be able to do any sleepwalking though, or freeze up at the end of games.

[Vermont Green]

The Celtics Achilles Heel is Joe Mazzulla.

doc will coach circles around this kid.

he will have us unfocused a couple games have bad rotations and bad defensive calls and lack of timeouts and will cost us.

i will go with Celts in 6. a couple brainfarts will cots us a couple games. its pat for the course with this team. see last year even with IME.  we shoulda beat heat and bucks in 6 or less. we blew many games.

Eh idk. Doc's solid, but he's not Spo/Popovich-level. In fact he hurts the Sixers a lot as well too lol. I think this series will be all about the players. Coaches will get blamed but I feel that'll be true for both sides anyways.

Yeah, I think Doc is a good coach but he has not been able to get the best out of PHI lately.  I think Doc is experiencing the shelf life issue.  I am not sure the team is listening to him anymore.  That is the impression I get anyway.

And I am not worried that Mazzulla is going to commit some series of gaffs to the extent that it will cost us the series.

We'll see I guess.

[Celtics2021]

The Celtics Achilles Heel is Joe Mazzulla.

doc will coach circles around this kid.

he will have us unfocused a couple games have bad rotations and bad defensive calls and lack of timeouts and will cost us.

i will go with Celts in 6. a couple brainfarts will cots us a couple games. its pat for the course with this team. see last year even with IME.  we shoulda beat heat and bucks in 6 or less. we blew many games.

Wait....so are you saying both Mazulla and Ime were bad coaches? or maybe...this is part of who the players are?

Mazulla won us the game last nite. He pulled Smart after the missed 3s and I don't think its a coincidence that when he put Smart back in Smart was cutting to the center of the floor on those Tatum doubles. Mazulla made an adjustment and set Smart up for success.

Completely agree.  Marcus Smart’s off-ball movement was why we went on that late game run, and it’s pretty likely he was told to do that when he was sent back in.

[celticinorlando]

Celtics in 5.

I think overall Boston has an easier time with Philly. Hawks were a bad match up for Boston. Philly is not.

[boscel33]

The Celtics Achilles Heel is Joe Mazzulla.

doc will coach circles around this kid.

he will have us unfocused a couple games have bad rotations and bad defensive calls and lack of timeouts and will cost us.

i will go with Celts in 6. a couple brainfarts will cots us a couple games. its pat for the course with this team. see last year even with IME.  we shoulda beat heat and bucks in 6 or less. we blew many games.

I hope that's sarcasm!  Doc is a barely .500 coach who has had some really good teams in the past and didn't do anything with them.  The 08 Celtic team was so talented, Doc could put it on auto pilot and not do anything,

[angryguy77]

If the real celtics show up, they finish in 5.
If it's the team from this series, they lose in 6.

[kraidstar]

If Embiid is significantly banged up, C's win in 5-6.  I see maxey and harden being good enough to shoot them to a win or 2.

 If Joel is beasting and healthy, C's in 7,  Or maybe even a sixers win.

 The league and officials will also be pushing for a long series. This is a Premier event for them. Don't discount that, It could be very frustrating for our fans.

 My best guess is celtics in 7.

[footey]

Picked Celtics in 6.

My gut says we will beat them in 5, but after getting pushed to 6 games by the Hawks (predicted we would beat them in 5), I'm a bit gun shy.

[angryguy77]

If Embiid is significantly banged up, C's win in 5-6.  I see maxey and harden being good enough to shoot them to a win or 2.

 If Joel is beasting and healthy, C's in 7,  Or maybe even a sixers win.

 The league and officials will also be pushing for a long series. This is a Premier event for them. Don't discount that, It could be very frustrating for our fans.

 My best guess is celtics in 7.

Good point. Hard to make a prediction until we know how many games Brothers, Zarba, and foster is going to be working.

[mef730]

If Embiid is significantly banged up, C's win in 5-6.  I see maxey and harden being good enough to shoot them to a win or 2.

 If Joel is beasting and healthy, C's in 7,  Or maybe even a sixers win.

The league and officials will also be pushing for a long series. This is a Premier event for them. Don't discount that, It could be very frustrating for our fans.

 My best guess is celtics in 7.

I'll go out on a limb now and predict that the NBA championship goes to the Celtics, who beat the Lakers in 7. And, if the league could find a way, they'd stretch it to 8.

Mike

[Kernewek]

If Embiid is significantly banged up, C's win in 5-6.  I see maxey and harden being good enough to shoot them to a win or 2.

 If Joel is beasting and healthy, C's in 7,  Or maybe even a sixers win.

The league and officials will also be pushing for a long series. This is a Premier event for them. Don't discount that, It could be very frustrating for our fans.

 My best guess is celtics in 7.

I'll go out on a limb now and predict that the NBA championship goes to the Celtics, who beat the Lakers in 7. And, if the league could find a way, they'd stretch it to 8.

Mike

This is the preferred timeline, but I think we have to get past Philadelphia first.

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a bit of a reprise of 2008's first two series, in the sense of being unexpectedly competitive.

[Phantom255x]

If the C's go up 2-0, I feel good about C's in 5. But if PHI steals one of the first two at TD Garden, then yeah it's probably likely it goes 6 or 7.

I know the arguments for 7, and we certainly looked shaky in the last series which almost did go 7, but I'd still be surprised if it went the distance. We've owned this team for a long time and Embiid isn't 100% which is a big factor.