Sixers vs. Celtics second-round playoff matchup is locked in

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Sixers vs. Celtics second-round matchup is now locked in originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers will seek their first playoff series victory over the Celtics 41 years after “Boston Strangler” Andrew Toney scored 34 points in a Game 7 Eastern Conference Finals triumph.

Celtics fans chanted, “Beat L.A.” in the closing moments of that 1982 contest. Since then, the Sixers have dropped playoff series to Boston in 1985, 2002, 2012, 2018 and 2020.

With a 128-120 Game 6 win Thursday night in Atlanta, the 2022-23 Celtics finished off the Hawks and advanced to a second-round matchup with the Sixers. Boston got 32 points from Jaylen Brown and 30 from Jayson Tatum.

The best-of-seven series schedule is below. As the higher seed, the No. 2 Celtics have home-court advantage. The No. 3 Sixers are slated to host Games 3, 4 and 6.

Game 1: Monday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT

Game 2: Wednesday, May 3 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT

Game 3: Friday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Game 4: Sunday, May 7 at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Game 5: Tuesday, May 9 on TNT

Game 6: Thursday, May 11 on ESPN

Game 7: Sunday, May 14

In 2012, Doc Rivers led Boston to a second-round series win over the Sixers in seven games. Current Sixers general manager Elton Brand started for the team at power forward in that series, which was featured in the film “Uncut Gems.”

Rivers is now in his third season as Sixers head coach. With a first-round series sweep of the Nets, his group earned an extended layoff.

“I don’t know even know if I’ve had a training camp this long,” Rivers said Thursday following practice. “This is a long time. It really is. Listen, from a coaching standpoint, there’s clearly a concern, honestly. … Like today, we had two guys run into each other in our scrimmage.

“We’ve got to play because we’re basketball players, but you’re scared the entire scrimmage. We had three different scrimmages today, and I was sitting there holding my breath the entire (scrimmages). Let’s get through it and let’s get out of here. That’s how you think. … So it’s a tough thing.”

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Rivers has not had any significant…

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Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2023-04-28 03:05:00

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