NBA: Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics Pick and Predictions 10/18/2022

Game: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, October 18th

Venue:  TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

Where to Watch: TNT

76ers: last season 51-31, 0-0 this year…a fresh start

Celtics: last season 51-31, 0-0 this year… a fresh start

DraftKings:  Point Spread: Celtics -3, 214 O/U

Don Best: Point Spread: Celtics -3, 214.5 O/U

William Hill: Point Spread: Celtics -3, 214 O/U

Sixers:  PG Tyrese Maxey, SG James Harden, SF Tobias Harris, PF PJ Tucker, C Joel Embiid

Celtics: PG Marcus Smart, SG Derrick White, SF Jaylen Brown, PF Jayson Tatum, C Al Horford

The 2022-23 NBA season is HERE!  The basketball God’s have given us just the right game to start the season with… The Philadelphia 76ers vs the Boston Celtics!  Last year’s Eastern Conference Finals that never was, since the Sixers unceremoniously lost to the Miami Heat.  The last we saw these teams The Boston Celtics took down the 76ers toward the end of the regular season on their way to the NBA Finals where they lost to the Golden State Warriors.  But man oh man… lots have happened since.  

The Philadelphia 76ers suffered from an odd drama last season as they had to incorporate all-star and former MVP SG James Harden into a line-up that had All-Star and MVP candidate Joel Embiid.. The results were mixed.  Some nights Harden would have an ungodly amount of assists and the Sixers would get an easy win… Some night Harden looked invisible as the Sixers picked up an “L”.  The team also has the young talented PG Tyrese Maxey who took turns looking like the 2nd or 3rd best player on the squad all season long.  Their mainstay is of course the wildly overpaid SF Tobias Harris that has spent a career proving he could be the best player on a bad team or the 4th best player on a good team.  A significant jump for sure.  The Sixers added PJ Tucker from the Miami Heat in the offseason and are looking to finally make that Finals… you know the one that was promised by the “process”? But never realized.

The Boston Celtics made it to the NBA Finals last season and were supposed to be the shoe-in for Vegas’s favorite to make it back.  After All, they have a team loaded with YOUNG all-Stars who are hitting their prime this year.  Then an odd tragedy struck.  Their GREAT young coach Ime Udoka, who had proven better at between game tweeks than anyone else, was found to be having a weird workplace affair.  With whom doesn’t matter.  The result of the affair was a full season suspension from the team that will certainly bloom into a “he never will return” situation.  Assistant Coach Joe Mazzulla has been installed as the interim, if not permanent new guy.  Will he be able to combine Tatum, Brown, and Smart in the same successful ways that Ime had?  We will see.

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The Philadelphia 76ers spent LAST SEASON ranked #18 in scoring with 109.9 points per game, 16th in field goal percentage with 46.6 %, 7th in 3 point percentage with 36.4%.... and very oddly 29th in offensive rebounds.  It would seem that if Embiid is going to be taking most of the shots... Tucker and Harris will need crash the boards... otherwise they are wasting possessions and potential.

The Boston Celtics spent LAST SEASON ranked #12 in scoring with 111.8 points per game, 15th in field goal percentage with 46.6%, 14th in 3 point percentage with 35.6%, and 5th in offensive rebounds.  The Celtics stats are not representative of their season last year.  In the first 3 months of the season they were middle of the pack clinging to 8th place in the East.... BUT in the second half of the season they were the best TEAM... even with the winning streaks in Memphis, Phoenix, and Golden State out West.  The Celtics seemed the most unstoppable once Head Coach Ime Udoka had established his culture and his control.  The Coach is gone... Is the Culture?

Our prediction for Tuesday, October 18th is…. 76ers 118 - Celtics 100

The 76ers will win this game.  The Celtics have gone through too much tumult with the coaching change to start this season any other way.  In favor of the Sixers C Joel Embiid carries around very big chips on his very big shoulders.  He is the sort of All-Star that will want to make a statement win in the furthest possible game from the NBA Finals.

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The Sixers are 88-86 ATS in all games the last 3 seasons.

The Celtics are 92-87 ATS in all games the last 3 seasons.

Sixers: SG James Harden.  In game 1 we will have to see if James has bought into finally being a team leader and simply stacking those assists… or will he forever be in a power struggle with Embiid for “who gets the most shots?”.  At season’s end James signed an extension that essentially lowered his yearly salary.  That should be an indication he is willing to do whatever it takes to finally get some hardware.

Celtics:  SF Jayson Tatum.  The long and short of it is that Tatum is the Celtics best player.  Some nights he plays like Kobe Bryant… some nights he plays like Rudy Gay.  He is a great two way player… but the shots have to start falling.  It’s that simple.  In last season’s Finals Tatum missed so many shots that some of the loose balls are still bouncing around in the depths of the Warriors gym.  It was shockingly unacceptable for a guy who is a MAX player and team star.  

Sixers: Doc “yeah, I’m still here” Rivers

Celtics: Joe “how did I get here?” Mazulla