Sixers vs Celtics: How to watch, latest team news & predictions

Sixers
Jan 31, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) drives against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) in the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia 76ers are at home, in the middle of their six game home stand to host the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics. Despite being severely undermanned, the Sixers had run off a four game winning streak before having it snapped on Friday night against the Nuggets in a game that was closer than anyone thought it would be. The Celtics are coming into Philly having won four of their last five games and eight of their last ten.

Sixers vs Celtics game information

Who: Boston Celtics (34-15) at Philadelphia 76ers (19-28)
When: 6:00 pm EST
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia PA
How to watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBC Sports Boston, ESPN

Latest on the Sixers

The Sixers will once more be without three of their starters and three of their top reserves as they take on the Celtics Sunday night. Joel Embiid, Paul George and Caleb Martin have all been ruled out for the game along with KJ Martin and Andre Drummond, while Jared McCain is done for the remainder of the season. For a team that’s faced as many injuries as the Sixers have, the team has grown under the guidance of guard Tyrese Maxey.

Maxey has been on fire of late and he’s taken the team with him. He’s clearly playing confident basketball again and is doing all he can with the players on the court. Over his last ten games, Maxey is averaging 33.4 points and 6.8 assists while shooting over 50% from the floor. He’s just been amazing for the team.

Sixers
Jan 6, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) reacts to his three pointer against the Phoenix Suns during the fourth quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

With the “big names” missing so much time, the rest of the squad has really stepped up. Lately, Guerschon Yabusele, Justin Edwards, Kelly Oubre Jr., Ricky Council IV and most surprisingly, Eric Gordon have all been stepping up and growing in their roles. Oubre Jr. has been fantastic averaging 17.5 points and 7.7 rebounds over his last ten games. He’s taken on the role of Maxeys second in command and has been doing as much as he possibly he can for the team.

Yabusele and Edwards have provided energy, defense, hustle and scoring throughout the last few weeks. Edwards has been playing defense better than anyone would have expected out of an undrafted first year player while showing a fearlessness with his offensive game.

Yabusele has averaged 14.6 points and 6.5 rebounds over his last ten games. Against the Nuggets, he had 28 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals while shooting 70.6% from the field and 57.1% on his three pointers. AS the season has gone on, Yabusele has played himself into a major role with the team.

Latest on the Celtics

The Celtics are having another stroll through the regular season. They’re 34-15 on the season and in second place by five and half games to the Cavaliers, but it doesn’t seem like the Celtics care about that. They know what they need to do in order to win in the playoffs and the Finals, so they’re just playing their game and moving right along.

Oubre Sixers
Dec 25, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) dunks the ball against the Boston Celtics during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Jayson Tatum is having another great year leading the Celtics. Despite his shooting percentages being slightly lower than in previous year, Tatum is at the head of a team that features six players scoring in double figures. With 26.7 points, 8.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, Tatum remains one of the best and most consistent players in the league. The rebound and assist totals, if they hold for the remainder of the season, would be career-highs for him.

After you get past Tatum, you have to deal with Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White before you get down to Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard. The team can come at you in any number of ways, they have a top five offense and a top three defense. Brown is having another phenomenal year averaging 23.4 points, 6 rebounds and 4.8 assists while Porzingisi is overlooked despite averaging 19.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

On the occasional off night for players like Tatum and Brown, the others have stepped up as they did in their recent win over the Bulls. With Tatum having a horrible shooting night and only getting 16 points, Porzingis stepped up with 34 points and 11 rebounds while Derrick White has 22 points and Brown had 28. The Celtics just have too many options to throw at teams and they keep on wining games.

What to watch for tonight

The Sixers have been playing great basketball of late and are getting contributions from quite a few different players. The roster is limited and this game will be tough. However, it will be fun to watch Tyrese Maxey take on the Celtics as he did the Nuggets. If not to just show them that the Sixers aren’t going away and if they’re able to sneak into the playoffs and get healthy, they’ll be a real problem.

Despite the small lineup, the Sixers should be able to get some points again from Yabusele as he’s been bullying his way through the post of late. The team will have a hard time with the Celtics’ balanced attack but with Maxey having drastically improved on defense, Yabusele and Justin Edwards will be pestering the Celtics offense and Oubre Jr. along with Eric Gordon can chip in as much as possible, they can make it a very tough visit to Philadelphia.

Prediction

Sixers 126 – Celtics 122

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images