Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics betting tips and predictions NBA. Philadelphia seems to be the more motivated team ahead of this game. Beating the finalists from last season would send a message that the 76ers are for real this year, so expect a spectacular performance from James Harden as he leads Philly to a win in the opener. Back Philadelphia on the Money Line. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Philadelphia 76ers
The hype is real around the Philadelphia 76ers as we enter the 2022-23 season with high expectations from Doc Rivers’ men. Last year the team struggled with the Ben Simmons situation for a decent chunk of the season and after that was resolved there just wasn’t enough time for newly acquired James Harden to build chemistry with the rest of the group.
That excuse is now gone as the Beard and Joel Embiid are coming into the season after a full training camp together and seemingly in the best shape of their careers. During the offseason they also added PJ Tucker and De’Anthony Melton which should do them well depth-wise. All in all, I expect the 76ers to have a solid run at it, possibly even finishing among the top 3 teams in the East during the regular season.
Boston Celtics
Boston also pulled some really good moves this offseason after they acquired Danilo Gallinari and Malcolm Brogdon, but things turned around very quickly when Gallinari injured his knee which ruled him out for the year. And that was just the start of it – head coach Ime Udoka was suspended for the entire season after violating team policies which means the Celtics head into this season with a rookie head coach Joe Mazzulla.
Big man Robert Williams had surgery on his knee which will keep him out for a few games to start the season, which means the Celtics could have issues guarding a motivated Embiid in the season opener. Last year Boston started fairly slowly winning just 18 of their first 39 games, I have a feeling that could be the case once again this season after all the trouble they endured this summer.
Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics Predictions & Odds
It’s never easy predicting totals early on in the season with team still adjusting to the start of competitive games. Rust is always a possibility after a couple of months of vacation, so I would recommend caution before making any bets on this game. In the 4 meetings played last season these 2 teams went 2-2 on the O/U, but only one of those games finished with more than 214 points scored which is the line coming into Tuesday’s game.
Both teams will look to build good defensive habits early on in the season, so I’m expecting a ton of effort on that side of the floor from both teams. Boston will be without it’s defensive anchor Williams, so the 76ers could get a lot of points inside the paint as Al Horford isn’t really equipped to guard Embiid for a full game. With a packed TD Garden cheering them on, I think the effort will be there defensively so expect the total to go under in the opener.
