NBA Playoffs: Celtics vs 76ers Odds – Game 1, August 17

With the 2019-2020 season restart finally shifting into the playoffs stage, Monday will bring us a whole lot of excellent games, and not least the first game between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. 

With a missing Ben Simmons, the 76ers are in for a rough ride against the Celtics who have played a superb season so far. Boston are the third seed team in the Eastern Conference as opposed to six seed for the 76ers.

The team went on a four-win streak in the season restart before losing a rather low-key game against the Washington Wizards prior to the playoffs, but we have every reason to believe they are back and they are bringing out the heavy guns.

Where and How to Watch Celtics vs 76ers Game 1

The game between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers will kick off on Monday, August 17 at 6:30 pm ET. No in-person attendance is allowed, but you can tune in and watch the game on ESPN.

• Date: Monday, August 17
• Time: 6:30 pm ET
• Location: The Field House, Orlando, Florida 
• Watch: ESPN

Odds to Win Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers

Teams	Spread	Moneyline	Totals
Boston Celtics
Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers: Can They Make It Without Simmons?

Since the season restarted and Ben Simmons‘ left knee injury, many experts have been looking at Philadelphia with mixed feelings. Can they pull through the BO7 series against the Celtics without their ace? It seems like the odds are heavily stacked against them , but the 76ers didn’t play badly in any of their season restart games. They just needed a bit of luck.

Sure, they lost most of them, but redeemed themselves by annihilating the Houston Rockets with 134-96 in the last game of the season. Before that, the 76ers played a very close game with the Toronto Raptors ending 125-121 in favor of Toronto and ended with a similar result against the Portland Trail Blazers with the Blazers winning 124-121.

Overall, the 76ers’ game has been on par and the team is definitely not worth dismissing just yet, just because Simmons is out. Kyle O’Quinn has been playing great of late and a lot is riding on him, that’s for sure. He had a double-double against the Phoenix Suns, even though the 76ers lost with over ten points in the matchup. O’Quinn’s performance in the playoffs will definitely determine whether the 76ers can push past the Boston Celtics.

Boston Celtics: Still on Point

The Celtics lost surprisingly against the Washington Wizards in their last game for the season, but naturally, the team wasn’t putting in too much effort. They have fared well against the Memphis Grizzlies and retained their third spot in the Eastern Conference seeding. 

Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker performed very well in the game against the Memphis Grizzlies scoring 29 and 19 points respectively. Besides, with Walker returning after a knee injury to the team’s roster, the Celtics have every reason to believe that they are coming into the playoffs with everything they have to offer.

23 points, 34 minutes and a 🔨 that was deserving of today's @jetblue Play of the Game! pic.twitter.com/dSW2SRICSG

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 13, 2020

Yet, the question as always remains: who will be the Celtics’ playmaker in the upcoming series? Well, for starters, the Celtics have a lot of benched talent in the faces of Marcus Smart and Brad Wannamaker, but more importantly, they have Tatum.

Tatum scored 29 points against the Grizzlies and he still scored 29 against the Washington Wizards, making him a consistent and dependent player. Averaging 23.4 points and 7 rebounds per game this season, we have every reason to believe Tatum is the player the Celtics would want to bet on.