On Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics will play the Philadelphia 76ers, who are also one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. This will be the Celtics’ last road test of the NBA season.
Celtics vs. 76ers injuries: 1 Questionable, 2 Out
Even though they have won their last two games, Boston is still two games behind Milwaukee for the top spot in the conference and the NBA as a whole. If the Celtics win again on Tuesday, it would be their fourth straight win against the Philadelphia 76ers (51-27).
The Celtics haven’t played since Friday, when they beat Utah 122-114. That was the night after their flight from Milwaukee, where they beat the Bucks 140-99, was delayed.
Jayson Tatum scored 40 points against the Bucks and then had 39 points and 11 rebounds. He made five of the team’s 17 3-pointers and scored the most points for the third game in a row.
The Celtics said Monday afternoon that Jaylen Brown, who usually scores 26.7 points and grabs 6.8 rebounds per game, might not be able to play because of low-back pain. Robert Williams is out because of an injury to his left knee.
Tim Bontemps of ESPN says that Williams will not play in Tuesday’s game at Philadelphia so that he can get some rest.
As they have done all season, the Celtics will be careful with Williams when they play back-to-back games. The big man is likely to play against Toronto on Wednesday.
Keith Smith of Spotrac.com says that Jaylen Brown might not be able to play against the 76ers on Tuesday because of low back pain.
Brown has been held to less than 20 points in two of his last three games, and he is having back trouble right now.
Even though he hasn’t been scoring as many points lately, he still averages 28.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 34.7 minutes per game in his last 11 games.
If he can’t play against Philadelphia, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard might get more playing time.
The 76ers have had a lot of ups and downs lately. They lost three games in a row, then won two in a row, and then lost 117-104 in Milwaukee on Sunday.
Tyrese Maxey had the most points for Philadelphia with 29. Joel Embiid had 28.
Embiid was picky on offense once again, and in his last two games, he has taken a total of 30 shots. Before he missed a game because of a calf injury, he was averaging 18.9 attempts per game in his previous 10 games.
By the end of March, Embiid has played 15 games and averaged 33.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.0 blocks.
In 34 minutes, James Harden scored 11 points (4-9 FG, 1-3 3P, 2-2 FT), grabbed two rebounds, gave out six assists, and stole one ball.
Since coming back after missing four games, he has averaged 16.3 points, 9.7 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.3 turnovers per game.
There are only four games left in the season. The 76ers know that quickly needs to change.
The Celtics won the first two head-to-head games by 9 and 7 points, Brown scored the game-winning three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to give the Celtics a 110-107 road win on Feb. 25. Tatum had 18 points, 13 rebounds (most on the team), and six assists in that game.
