Tyrese Maxey and the 76ers challenge a Celtics team that’s been buoyed by Jayson Tatum’s return from injury.
It’s business as usual for the Boston Celtics, who are in the playoffs for the 12th straight year, the league’s longest active streak by four years. And this is the fifth straight year where they’ve been one of the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference.
But given the circumstances, it’s remarkable that the Celtics are back in the same spot they were a year ago. They parted ways with four of their top eight guys from last year’s playoff rotation and were without their best player for the first 62 games of the season. Ranking in the top five on both ends of the floor for the fourth straight year, they’re arguably (and incredibly) the favorite to reach the Finals out of the East.
Their first-round opponent is a wild card. The Philadelphia 76ers are back in the playoffs after a one-year absence, and they have a high ceiling if Joel Embiid can play. But Embiid had an appendectomy in the last week of the regular season and his status for the series is unknown.
The Celtics and Sixers split the season series, with the Sixers getting one of their two wins without Embiid. But both of their wins came in the first three weeks of the season, before the Celtics really hit their stride.
Series schedule
Here’s how to watch the Celtics vs. 76ers series:
All times Eastern Standard Time
- Game 1: Philadelphia at Boston | Sunday April 19 (1 ET, ABC)
- Game 2: Philadelphia at Boston | Tuesday April 21 (7 ET, NBC/Peacock)
- Game 3: Boston at Philadelphia | Friday April 24 (7 ET, Prime Video)
- Game 4: Boston at Philadelphia | Sunday April 26 (7 ET, NBC)
- Game 5: Philadelphia at Boston* | Tuesday April 28
- Game 6: Boston at Philadelphia* | Thursday April 30
- Game 7: Philadelphia at Boston* | Saturday May 2
* = If necessary
Regular-season results
Oct. 22: 76ers 117, Celtics 116
Oct. 31: Celtics 109, 76ers 108
Nov. 11: 76ers 102, Celtics 100
March 25: Celtics 114, 76ers 98
Top storyline
Celtics on the gas pedal. When the Celtics are at their best, they’re relentless with their offensive execution, targeting weak defenders, attacking mismatches and generating great shots.
But over the years, we’ve seen the Celtics lose the plot, settling for not-so-great shots or even forcing bad ones. They just need to look back to Games 1 and 2 of last year’s conference semifinals to know how quickly things can turn if they don’t keep their foot on the gas. They blew two 20-point, second-half leads (at home) to the New York Knicks and were heading to an early playoff exit, even if Jayson Tatum didn’t tear his Achilles in Game 4.
The Sixers aren’t going to roll over, and they’ve beat Boston twice this season. But for the Celtics, this series is more about their approach than the matchup. Tougher tests (including a possible rematch with the Knicks) await, and taking care of business will pay off going forward.
Keep your eyes on
Will the Sixers have Embiid? Counting their Play-In victory on Wednesday, the Sixers are 10-4 in the regular season when Tyrese Maxey and Paul George play without Embiid, but seven of those 10 wins came against the Bucks (3), Wizards (2), Nets and Pacers. In 396 total regular-season minutes with Maxey and George on the floor without Embiid, the Sixers outscored their opponents by a single point (931-930), scoring just 110.8 per 100 possessions, well below league-average efficiency.
The Sixers were at their best in the regular season (plus-5.8 points per 100 possessions) with Embiid on the floor, with the bigger impact coming on offense. If (or when) he’s unavailable, they’ll probably need to win ugly. They went 30-10 when they allowed 114 points per 100 possessions or fewer, but they were 15-27 when they allowed more than 114 per 100.
One more thing to watch for each team
For Celtics: Derrick White is a First Team All-Defense candidate and one of the Celtics’ most important players. But he had a rough shooting season, registering an effective field goal percentage of just 48.9%, down from 57.4% over his previous three years. And that was about his shooting both inside and beyond the arc.
White didn’t stop shooting, and he will continue to launch in the playoffs, having registered an effective field goal percentage of 60.8% (including 41.3% from 3-point range) over the last three postseasons.
The Celtics’ offense was remarkably efficient despite White’s struggles, and it will be even more potent if he can put his regular season behind him and find his shot again.
For 76ers: VJ Edgecombe won’t finish higher than third in Rookie of the Year voting, but he’ll be one of the rare rookies who were full-time starters on playoff teams.
And no matter what happens in this series, there’s no better experience than playoff reps against a championship contender.
Maxey is probably going to average at least 42 minutes in this series, and he’ll have the Celtics’ full attention when he’s running the offense. The Sixers will need other guys to step up, both when Maxey rests and when the ball is taken out of his hands. Edgecombe has the ability to keep the offense afloat; he had 34 points in the Sixers’ win in Boston on opening night, and he’ll now have an opportunity to shine on the playoff stage.
One key number to know
150 – In the 30 seasons for which we have play-by-play data, there have been 14 games where a team has scored more than 150 points per 100 possessions. The 2025-26 Celtics accounted for four of the 14, scoring more than 150 per 100 against the Wizards, Clippers, Nets and Heat. Tatum played in only one of those games and they were also without Jaylen Brown for the Washington win.
The Denver Nuggets led the league in offensive efficiency, but the Celtics were in the top two for the fourth straight season despite the absence of Tatum for most of the year.
They were just 11th in effective field goal percentage and ranked last in free throw rate, but were in the top five in both turnover rate and offensive rebounding percentage, having seen a big jump from last season in the latter.
The Sixers kept the Boston offense relatively in check (111.7 points scored per 100 possessions) over the three early-season meetings, but the Celtics scored 114 on only 90 possessions (127 per 100) in their 16-point win on March 1.
— John Schuhmann
The pick
Celtics in 4. The Celtics are the better offensive team (by a wide margin), the better defensive team, the deeper team, and the team with championship experience.
They remain a jump-shooting team and could be susceptible to a cold shooting spell, but they were still 10-5 in February, March and April when shooting worse than the league average (36%) from 3-point range.
A healthy Embiid would give the Sixers a chance to win a game or two, but Boston shouldn’t have any problem advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the fifth straight year.
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John Schuhmann has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Bluesky.
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