The Philadelphia 76ers are set to begin their first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics on Sunday. The Celtics are the odds-on favorite to reach the NBA Finals, so the Sixers are understandably huge underdogs to extend their season beyond the next four-to-seven games.
If there is any silver lining in this particular matchup, Philadelphia did fare reasonably well against the Celtics during the regular season, which we’ll examine a bit more in depth below. The two teams split the four games,
each winning once at home and once on the road.
There are a few significant roster changes since those meetings in the regular season. For the Sixers, Joel Embiid is out indefinitely following appendicitis surgery; he appeared in two of the four games against Boston. Interestingly, Paul George did not play in any of the Boston matchups but will be on the floor for Game 1 in Boston.
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum made his season debut on March 6 following Achilles surgery, which came after the final meeting with the Sixers. He has rounded into form lately and looks like a fair approximation of his old self, scoring at least 23 points in seven straight games and playing a season-high 40 minutes the last time he took the floor. Nikola Vucevic also joined Boston at the trade deadline, since playing minutes in the low-20s off the bench for Boston.
Now, let’s take a look at the four meetings this season.
10/22/25 – Boston, MA – Philadelphia 117, Boston 116
The Sixers started the season on a high note, just edging out the rival Celtics on the road in the opener. Philadelphia received 40 points and six assists from Tyrese Maxey, while VJ Edgecombe had a historically great rookie NBA debut with 34 points. Joel Embiid was extremely underwhelming, scoring just four points on 1-of-9 shooting in 20 minutes in his first game since the previous February. The Celtics received 25 points apiece from Jaylen Brown and Derrick White.
After Edgecombe missed a pair of free throws in the closing seconds (which hopefully didn’t end up spoiling his amazing overall performance), Payton Pritchard missed a couple shots at the end of the game to keep the Sixers in front.
10/31/25 – Philadelphia, PA – Boston 109, Philadelphia 108
Philadelphia was led by 26 points and 14 assists from Maxey. Embiid scored 20 points, while Kelly Oubre Jr. and Edgecombe each chipped in with 17 points. Boston was led by 32 points from Jaylen Brown.
This game was the one where the Sixers had the ball with a chance to win it and didn’t even technically get a shot off before the final buzzer. Everyone came at Nick Nurse pretty hard for the late-game decision-making in what was the Sixers’ first loss of the season.
11/11/25 – Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia 102, Boston 100
This Sixers win was the most improbable result of the season series against Boston. Philadelphia was led by 22 points off the bench from Justin Edwards, who shot 5-of-6 from three. Andre Drummond, starting in place of Embiid, had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Jaylen Brown once again paced Boston with 24 points.
Oubre put back a bucket off an offensive rebound with eight seconds left to break the tie (ironically rebounding Edwards’ only missed three of the night). Then, Drummond played great defense to knock the ball away from Derrick White and force a wild shot in the final seconds.
3/1/26 – Boston, MA – Boston 114, Philadelphia 98
Here we have the only stinker of the four regular season meetings. Without Embiid and George, Maxey and Edgecombe led the offensive charge with a combined 56 points. Still, the defensive effort was lacking and there was no fight on the glass, most emphasized by Neemias Queta collecting 27 points and 17 rebounds. Jaylen Brown tied for team-high honors with 27 points of his own.
This game represents the realistic downside scenario for the Sixers in the postseason. Boston can spread the Sixers out and if Philadelphia’s defensive rotations aren’t crisp and the work on the glass is a problem, as it often has been, things could get away from them in a hurry.
Overall, there are encouraging signs from these games for the Sixers. The obvious one is that they are going to need a huge series from their starting backcourt. Both Maxey and Edgecombe had some very solid outings against Boston this year. Of course, Joel Embiid being sidelined is a gargantuan blow, but at the very least, the Sixers can go in with the knowledge that they’ve beaten Boston once this year without Joel and once when he had probably a negative impact on the court. Jayson Tatum is a much, much better player than Paul George at this stage of their careers, but everyone brings up “the Celtics now have Tatum” without mentioning “the Sixers now have George” in this matchup. PG has been great since returning from suspension and should at least be a big help in guarding either Brown or Tatum on the wings.
I don’t think the Sixers without Embiid have any real shot of getting past Boston in the first round, but I believe they could provide some fun moments and keep things competitive in extending this series to six games.
