The Sixers and Celtics practiced in the heart of London ahead of their clash on Thursday. Both teams used the same facility with the Celtics kicking off proceedings. Here are some quick notes and observations from the day’s action.

SIXERS:

Red-eye:
J.J Redick was draining just about everything in the shootaround today, garnering the nickname ‘red eye’ from his teammates. The veteran has enjoyed a leap in form recently and has found his rhythm from beyond the arc and has amassed over 20 points in each of his last three games.

JoJo looks good:
Embiid was sassy to say the least. The big man was kicking around the court and knocking down long-range jumpers in front of the media, putting on a strong show.

https://twitter.com/LiamJenkins21/status/950813890828435456

Saric pulls up:
Dario Saric spent the first half of the practice session on the floor with a trainer helping to stretch his legs. Given that the Sixers only arrived in the UK this morning, it’s likely that there was some cramping. It’s a long plane and coach journey to endure and even the fittest of athletes can suffer with a little stiffness.

Fultz’s fundamentals:
The Washington product is still questionable for the game on Thursday and spent most of practice working on moves in the post and fade-aways with Redick watching on. We didn’t get to see much in the way of free-throw motion, but Fultz seemed relatively active given his status.

Here’s ten minutes of footage from earlier.

Sixers practice LIVE from London https://t.co/K1SQACbyeO

— Philly Sports Network (@PhiladelphiaSN) January 9, 2018

CELTICS:

The one standout for me was Aron Baynes. The Australian looked red hot throughout drills and spent plenty of time working on his inside moves. The pick’n’roll master may not have the biggest role on the Celtics team, but he’s a fundamental bench player who has bought a huge boost to their offense this season. He also had some very kind words to say about the Sixers.

https://twitter.com/LiamJenkins21/status/950733502554738688

Interestingly, Kyrie Irving had a very quiet afternoon. He spent much of the practice on the baseline with a trainer after a brief shooting workout and didn’t seem to intent on talking to the media. Maybe it was the travel or simply trying to monitor his fatigue. Either way, this will be something to watch.

Stay tuned for two EXCLUSIVE interviews and another practice report tomorrow. Follow me on twitter @LiamJenkins21 for the latest updates.

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports