The Celtics have been playing with fire for nearly a week now, and they could very well get burnt Saturday by a highly confident 76ers team. The Celtics will host the Sixers in Game 7 of their NBA Playoffs first round series on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET/NBC and Peacock) at TD Garden.
Boston owned a 3-1 lead in the series, held a 13-point lead in the third quarter of Game 5 Tuesday at home, and it looked like the Sixers were going to go quietly into their off-season.
Philly never quit, however, as its defense ramped up and Boston’s shooting fell off a cliff. The Sixers rallied and won in Game 5, and then coasted to a 106-93 victory in Game 6. Boston was 12-of-41 (29%) from 3-point territory in Game 6.
This will be the third Game 7 at TD Garden for the Celtics under Joe Mazzulla’s watch. The first one was a 112-88 semi-final win in 2023 over the 76ers, coached then by Doc Rivers. The second one came one round later in 2023, as the Celtics were embarrassed on their home floor by the Miami Heat, 103-84, in the Eastern Conference Finals.
This will also be the third Game 7 that Nick Nurse has coached in, although both of those games came when he was roaming the sidelines for the Toronto Raptors. Nurse is 1-1 in Game 7s.
76ers vs. Celtics Game 7 spread
The Celtics are -7.5 favorites for Saturday night’s Game 7.
Boston was a -5.5 road favorite for Game 6 but wound up losing by 13. The Sixers are 4-2 against the spread in this series, and the C’s are 2-4 ATS. Boston was the second-best team in the NBA against the spread in the regular season with a 49-33-0 mark. Philly was a respectable 43-3-0 ATS in the regular season.
76ers vs. Celtics Game 7 total
This series has been a fun one for Under bettors as the Celtics and Sixers have gone Over the number just once so far in the series.
The Game 7 total at Fanatics Sportsbook has been set at 206.0.
Here is a look at the final scores and combined points in the series thus far.
- Game 1: Celtics 123, 76ers 91 (214 total)
- Game 2: 76ers 111, Celtics 97 (208 total)
- Game 3: Celtics 108, 76ers 100 (208 total)
- Game 4: Celtics 128, 76ers 96 (224 total)
- Game 5: 76ers 113, Celtics 97 (210 total)
- Game 6: 76ers 106, Celtics 93 (199 total)
76ers vs. Celtics Player props
Joel Embiid has a Game 7 points Over/Under of 26.5 with juice on the Under. Embiid is averaging 26.0 points so far in the series.
Tyrese Maxey has a Game 7 points O/U of 23.5. Maxey is averaging 26.3 ppg in the series.
For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown has a points Over/Under of 25.5. He is averaging 24.5 ppg so far in the playoffs.
Jayson Tatum’s points O/U at Fanatics for Game 7 has been set at 24.5, with juice on the Under. Tatum is averaging 23.3 points per game in the series. Tatum exited Thursday’s Game 6 with a sore left calf but Tatum—who recently returned from a ruptured right Achilles suffered during last season’s playoffs—and the team both downplayed the extent of the injury after the game.
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