76ers vs. Celtics Picks, Predictions, Odds

Michael Crosson Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

NBA Playoffs Picks
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The NBA Playoffs resume on Monday night with a compelling Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 1 between the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics. Coverage begins from TD Garden in Boston at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS vs. BOSTON CELTICS BETTING PREDICTION

Boston’ fans will never admit it, but they slowly began to break a sweat towards the end of the Celtics’ first-round playoff matchup against Atlanta, as the C’s went to the fourth quarter of Game 6 trailing the Hawks by a bucket, but luckily, Trae Young shot 0-of-7 in the final 12 minutes of the contest, paving the way for Boston to escape with a surprisingly prolonged six-game series victory.

At face value, dropping a couple of games to Atlanta in a playoff series might not seem like an overly worrisome notion. Not too long ago, the Hawks squared off against Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Finals, so the idea of Atlanta stealing a game or two from the C’s may register as somewhat par for the course. However, those days are long over for Atlanta. 

The Hawks simply weren’t very good this year. They finished 8th in the conference with a record of 41-41, while ranking just 18th in the league in net rating (+0.3 NetRtg), and quite frankly, given the fact that this Atlanta’ team was able to take two games from Boston in the first round, the Sixers should be able to do the very same in the second, with or without Joel Embiid, who’s listed as doubtful for Game 1.

The Sixers are obviously far less of a concern if Embiid is sidelined for a decent portion of the series, but this is still a very good basketball team either way. Philly has posted an offensive rating of 120 and a defensive rating of 112 in their 17 games without Embiid this year, which is better than Atlanta at both ends of the floor in general (117 ORtg, 116 DRtg); and also better than Atlanta played in the opening round of the playoffs against Boston (116 ORtg, 121 DRtg).

The Celtics enter this series as steep -310 favorites to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, and rightfully so. Boston is the only team in the NBA that ranks Top 3 in both offensive and defensive rating (118 ORtg, 112 DRtg), and the Sixers already find themselves behind the 8-ball early due to the health status of Embiid.

Can the Sixers win this series without Embiid? No, probably not; but the idea of Philly stealing a game or two early certainly isn’t out of the question, and if Embiid can return and make an impact during the latter part of this series, the Sixers are more than capable of giving Boston some trouble. Don’t count out Philly quite yet. Take the points with the Sixers in Game 1.

Score Prediction: Celtics 112, Sixers 108
Best Bet: Sixers +10 (-110)

Take PHI!

BET NOW!

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS vs. BOSTON CELTICS BETTING ODDS

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS vs. BOSTON CELTICS BETTING RESOURCES

Date: Monday, May 1, 2023
Venue: TD Garden
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
TV-Time: TNT, 7:30 p.m. ET
Matchup
Expert Picks

NBA Finals Betting Odds

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS vs. BOSTON CELTICS BETTING STATS

Philadelphia 76ers
SU: 58-28
ATS: 51-34-1
O/U: 44-41-1
PPG: 115.2
OPPG: 110.9

Boston Celtics
SU: 61-27
ATS: 49-38-1
O/U: 47-40-1
PPG: 117.9
OPPG: 111.4

Straight Up (SU), Against the Spread (ATS), Over-Under (O/U)
Points Per Game (PPG), Opponents Points Per Game (OPPG)

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS vs. BOSTON CELTICS BETTING TRENDS

• The Sixers are 5-0-1 ATS in their last six games.
• The Sixers are 6-0 SU in their last six games.
• The Celtics are 8-2 ATS in their last ten games.
• The total has gone OVER in four of Boston's last five games.
• The Celtics are 7-2 SU in their last nine games.
• The total has gone UNDER in six of Boston's last nine games against Philadelphia.
• The Celtics are 9-1 SU in their last ten home games.
• The Sixers are 0-5 ATS in their last five games against Boston.
• The Sixers are 1-4 SU in their last five games against Boston.
• The Sixers are 4-1 SU in their last five road games.

Michael Crosson

Michael Crosson began his time at VegasInsider as a freelance NBA writer back in 2019 while he continued to study Psychology and Biology at James Madison University. Following his graduation in 2021, Michael joined the team full-time, and he's been with VI ever since. Michael still writes NBA, NFL, and MLB for VI, as well as gambling industry news. He's also become a crucial part of our editorial production team. More from Michael Crosson