Hoops Tonight - Celtics-76ers Prediction: Jaylen Brown & Jayson Tatum outduel Maxey & Paul George w/ no Joel Embiid

Happy Friday and welcome to Hoops Tonight on The Volume. We’re rolling on with our playoff previews and today it’s Boston versus Philadelphia, so make sure you’re subscribed to catch every live show.

Question: What did the regular season tell us? Answer: The series split two–two, but three games came in the first month and the March matchup showed Boston calmly taking control after early makes against their drop, with key players missing across those meetings.

Question: Is Joel Embiid playing, and how would that change things? Answer: I’m proceeding as if he’s out; if he returns, he boosts Philly’s offense with pick-and-pop threes, elbow touches, and post-ups, but he likely slows their defense against a drive-and-kick team that puts you in rotation.

Question: What’s Philly’s main path to points? Answer: Beat Boston’s deep drop with pull-up threes, especially Tyrese Maxey, who was streaky this year and went four-for-16 off-the-dribble against Boston but three-for-three from dribble handoffs, so I’d lean into DHOs with bigs to get him sprinting into catch-and-shoot looks.

Question: Any other Sixers levers? Answer: Some Paul George post-ups and isos, Maxey attacking bigger, slower defenders, and occasional Kelly Oubre drives, plus work on the offensive glass, though Boston’s defensive rebounding surged post All-Star with Jason Tatum anchoring.

Question: How does Boston attack Philly’s defense? Answer: Nick Nurse’s aggressive coverage brings help and tags that invite kickouts, and the Celtics rarely turn it over; in their March game they generated a flood of spot-ups, and Tatum and Jaylen Brown will draw two and spray as long as they avoid old bad-processing stretches.

Question: Where does the efficiency battle land? Answer: Philly’s ball-handler pick-and-roll scoring is solid but not elite, while Boston lives near the top in spot-up efficiency, so it’s tough for the Sixers to match a steady diet of cleaner threes with tougher drop-coverage shots.

Question: What’s the pick and Philly’s upset map? Answer: Celtics in five, with Philly’s path requiring Maxey to catch fire versus the drop, help from VJ Edgecombe and Paul George, a pounding on the offensive glass with Andre Drummond and the forwards, and Boston slipping into messy decision-making in a couple of games.

That’s it for today. More series previews are coming, and we’ll be live at the final buzzer each playoff night starting with Lakers–Rockets, so thanks for riding with us and I’ll see you then.