NBA playoff preview and tips: Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers - Game Six
- George Dempsey
- 11 May 2023
Philadelphia 76ers will progress to the Eastern Conference Final if they beat Boston Celtics in game six of the NBA playoffs at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.
The Celtics were beaten for a second consecutive game by Philadelphia, 115-103, as they shot a wretched 39.8% from the field.
Standout Trends
76ers are 3-9ATS in their last 12 games on a Thursday.
76ers are 1-6ATS in their last seven against a road team road winning 60% of games.
Celtics are 37-17ATS in their last 54 games against a team winning 60% of home games.
Celtics are 6-1ATS in their last seven games following a straight-up loss.
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Celtics @ 76ers - Game Six verdict
So far in this series, the road team has picked up three wins. Philadelphia's 115-103 win in Boston on Tuesday night gave them a surprise 3-2 lead in the series.
The Celtics shot just 39.8% and never managed to contain the 76ers in an extremely poor performance by their standards. Trailing 3-2, they now face elimination from the playoffs, unless they win at Wells Fargo Center.
Al Horford went scoreless as Marcus Smart added just 14. The Celtics weren't able to get much production from their bench on the night, whilst the 76ers shared the ball and the scoring pretty well.
During their two wins in this series, the Celtics were able to throw up 51 and 45 three-point attempts with a combined 38 made shots. On Tuesday, they were 12 of 38 from deep.
As coach Mazzulla acknowledge afterwards, it was a terrible performance, but arguably the only bad performance we've seen from Boston in these playoffs.
Jayson Tatum scored 30 points on the night, but it took a considerable time for him to get going. He missed his first five shots including some good looks. It drew audible groans from the crowd as Philly raced to a seven-point lead.
It may sound like a small thing, but the margins are that small in the playoffs. Embiid set the pace and punished the Celtics. The atmosphere was watered down considerably and Boston never really recovered.
The game six emphases will be on making a fast start and silencing the Philly crowd in the same way. We expect a return to high-volume threes, a much better start for Jayson Tatum and for Jaylen Brown to drive at the 76ers early to set the tone.
Boston Celtics are a -2 favourite with SX.bet for this crucial road game and we think they'll get the job done and secure a game seven at TD Garden. We'll take the -1 available in case of the narrowest of victories.
