- 1 Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown’s first meeting with the team he left
- 2 Philadelphia 76ers: a 105.4 defensive rating and Maxey at 28.0 points
- 3 Boston Celtics: 5-0 at TD Garden, 1-2 everywhere else
- 4 Free NBA Prediction: Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown’s first meeting with the team he left 
Philadelphia trailed Boston 3-1 in last season’s first round and won the series 4-3, finishing with a 109-100 win at TD Garden on 2 May. Jaylen Brown was in a Celtics uniform that night. He moved to Philadelphia in July, and Tuesday’s game is his first against his old team.
The two meet at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Tuesday 10 November, tip-off 8:00pm ET, in the first of four meetings this season. The game is on NBC, and the records going into the weekend made it the night’s headline: Philadelphia 8-1, Boston 6-2.
The 76ers took that mark through Wednesday with five straight wins and the second-best defensive rating in the league, 105.4. Boston has the better offense, seventh at 117.0 against Philadelphia’s 20th-ranked 111.2, and it’s unbeaten in five home games.
Road form is where the teams split. Philadelphia has won all four of its away games, the first time it’s done that in 25 years, but this one is at home, where it’s 4-1. Boston is 1-2 away from TD Garden, and its one road win came in Orlando against a roster missing Paolo Banchero.
Both teams reach Tuesday with one day off. Philadelphia plays in Chicago at 3:30pm ET on Sunday after a Friday trip to Cleveland, while Boston has Friday in Charlotte and Sunday in Milwaukee. The Celtics then fly to Toronto for Wednesday, the fourth stop of a road run with no home game in between.
Philadelphia 76ers: a 105.4 defensive rating and Maxey at 28.0 points 
Tyrese Maxey is averaging 28.0 points through nine games, and Brown adds 21.8 after a season-high 30 in Detroit on Wednesday. Joel Embiid has 19.6 a game and LeBron James 15.7, with 7.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists, so Nick Nurse has four players who can run the offense.
Philadelphia’s only loss came against Detroit on 25 October, and it has allowed 105.2 points a game. The 112-106 win at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday was another example, with Embiid posting 26 points and 15 rebounds against one of the league’s best defenses.
Embiid’s right foot is the running concern. He has plantar fasciitis, he played under a 25-minute limit on 2 November and he sat the second night of a back-to-back on 31 October. He wasn’t on the report for Friday, but Sunday’s early game in Chicago leaves him one day before Boston.
Maxey hurt his right hand late in Detroit and said he’d be fine. Adem Bona’s neck sprain made him doubtful for Friday, and Dominick Barlow is out with a stress reaction in his lower back, with Nurse’s estimate putting his return after this game.
The offense has room to grow, which is an unusual thing to write about an 8-1 team. Embiid is 3-for-26 from three, and Philadelphia has scored 111.0 a game. Four of the five wins in its current streak came by 6 points or fewer, with the defense doing most of the work.
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Boston Celtics: 5-0 at TD Garden, 1-2 everywhere else 
Boston beat Milwaukee 109-102 on Wednesday without Jayson Tatum, who was resting. Paul George scored 25, Derrick White had 24 and Neemias Queta added 9 points and 12 rebounds, and that win kept the Celtics perfect at home.
Tatum is back on the active list and leads the team at 27.0 points a game, with George at 21.3. Payton Pritchard averages 13.0 and White 12.8, and Boston scores 114.3 points a night, with an offensive rating that ranks seventh.
Road games have been harder. Boston lost 109-93 in Houston on Monday, a night after winning 108-97 in Orlando, and at TD Garden it has needed overtime only once, in a 125-124 win over Brooklyn on 27 October.
Pritchard left Wednesday’s game in the third quarter after Ryan Rollins hit him in the head, and he has a right eye abrasion. He was questionable for Friday, with no timeline given, though Joe Mazzulla said he’s OK. Devin Carter remains out with mononucleosis.
Mitchell Robinson joined in the offseason, which adds size behind Queta against Embiid. The Celtics allow 108.3 points and their 110.9 defensive rating ranks 10th, so they’ve been good on that end, just not at Philadelphia’s level.
Probable lineup Philadelphia 76ers: Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Joel Embiid
Probable lineup Boston Celtics: Derrick White, Jayson Tatum, Paul George, Walsh, Neemias Queta
Free NBA Prediction: Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics
Our prediction: Philadelphia 76ers to win
We’d back the team with the second-best defense in the league at home, against an opponent that’s 1-2 on the road and plays again the following night in Toronto. Philadelphia has won 8 of 9, and it won the last three games of last season’s series, by 16, 13 and 9 points.
Boston’s offense is the better of the two by 5.8 points per 100 possessions, and Tatum at 27.0 can win a game by himself. We still prefer Philadelphia, whose defense has held opponents to 105.2 a night, and whose four-man rotation of ball-handlers gives Nurse more options late.
Moneylines weren’t available at the time of writing. We’d take Philadelphia only at 1.45 or longer, and Embiid’s status after Sunday’s game in Chicago needs checking before tip-off.
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