Who will take the lead?

The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers open the semifinals in the Eastern Conference! The home side, as expected, edged Atlanta 4-2 in the previous round and the visitors made short work of the Brooklyn Nets via sweep.

Boston Celtics – statistics & current form

The co-record champions certainly had problems with the Hawks, but in the end it was enough to win the series in six games. The home side can now further build on their recent statistics against the Sixers

Although the last meeting was a close 101-103 loss away from home about a month ago, Boston had won four straight against Philly before that. Furthermore, head coach Joe Mazzulla’s troops delivered the best home record in the East during the regular season together with the Bucks from Milwaukee. A whopping 78 percent of their home games ended in a Boston win.

Philadelphia 76ers – statistics & current form

The Sixers were able to regenerate longer, unlike their opponents. As the only team in the NBA postseason Philadelphia succeeded in a smooth 4-0 win in the first round against Brooklyn.

James Harden, among others, was in good form. With 8.8 assists per game, “The Beard” is the third-best assist man so far behind Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Trae Young of the already eliminated Hawks.

Boston Celtics – Philadelphia 76ers Tip

For Game 1 between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, the prediction and betting odds on more than 24.5 points by Jaylen Brown are worth considering. While the home side’s top scorer in the person of Jayson Tatum has yet to approach his regular-season scoring average in the postseason, the shooting guard is operating at 26.7 points, nearly identical to his performances prior to the start of the 2023 NBA Playoffs (26.6).

In addition, the 26-year-old has improved recently: In the final three games of the series against the Hawks, Brown delivered at least 31 points. Among other things, he made ten successful throws from downtown. By comparison, in the first three games of the series, he made only four successful attempts from outside the arc.