With LeBron James out of the picture in the Eastern Conference, the door is wide open for the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers to slug it out for the top spot. The Celtics made the conference final last season, dispatching the upstart Sixers in the East semis before bowing to James and the Cavs in an epic seven-game series that saw the Cs lose the last two. They did all that damage without two of their most important pieces in Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving, who are back to lift the Celtics to their past glory.
Don't miss the hardwood action from the TD Garden at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 16, 2018. Catch every moment of the game live on TNT.
NBA Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Philadelphia 76ers +5
Boston Celtics -5
Over/Under 208.5
It’s the first game in a long season, but these Atlantic Division rivals have plenty to prove to themselves, each other and the rest of the Eastern Conference, and it starts on Tuesday night. Now that the King has swapped conferences, many feel the East will go through one of these cities. And which one it eventually does go through will be determined over the next six months.
The Celtics finished three games better than Philly in the regular season standings last season, and both teams should be better. The Celtics played all but about five minutes without Hayward, their big free agent signing who messed up his ankle on opening day. They also played without Irving down the stretch and into the postseason, yet Boston still made a run to the East Final and came within a game of beating Cleveland.
When we think of this season’s version, the first question is: can the Celtics beat the Warriors? That tells us they are primed and ready for a run to the title. Boston is loaded and the only issue will be managing the minutes for all the talent. The absence of Hayward and Irving allowed players like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to develop and Terry Rozier to reestablish himself. And once again under Brad Stevens the Celtics were one of the best defensive teams.
The Celtics have been a determined club defensively over the years, and their style of play frustrated the free-wheeling Sixers last season. Boston won three of four meetings holding Philly to under 100 points three times and giving just 103 in the other matchup. The teams cashed the under three times in those games with the Celtics going 3-1 ATS. There is something to be said about discipline on the court and the Celtics have it.
Stevens will use his entire lineup like he’s done during his tenure. Irving is likely to get some time playing both guard spots as the rotations get tweaked early in the year. And you know Kyrie is going to want to make a good impression for the home fans. He point total isn’t going to be particularly high given the number of players Boston has in the backcourt, but expect Irving to take his shots when they come and that will put him over his projected point total on a prop bet at BookMaker.eu.
There’s a good chance we see Markelle Fultz in the opener, and he could be the missing link for the Sixers. The Process moved rapidly and Philly was ahead of most people’s projections by winning 52 games and finishing third in the East. That didn’t help them in the playoffs when they dropped a second-round matchup to the Celtics in five games. Joel Embiid and Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons have a year of seasoning and the playoff experience will help. But the Sixers can be much better if last year’s No. 1 pick Fultz can play to his potential.
There is a major difference in talent once we peel away the layers of the starting five. The Sixers lost two big pieces in Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova and when Brett Brown turns to the bench, you should turn to the live betting format at BookMaker.eu and jump on the Celtics.
76ers at Celtics Live Betting
There are plenty of unknowns heading into a season. We don’t know what the rotations are going to be and we don’t know if Fultz is going to be an impact player. We don’t know how Hayward and Irving are going to play after so much time off the court. What we do know is that the Celtics will play defense and they’ll do it for 48 minutes. That leaves the Sixers searching for answers and Embiid will supply a few. But otherwise, there aren’t many. Pound the Celtics on the live betting lines to cover and hold the Sixers below their point total.
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