Game Preview: “4-4-14”, Sixers Travel to Boston

Just a few weeks ago Nerlens Noel tweeted “4-4-14”, leading everyone to believe this date would be his return to the squad. Unfortunately, there will not be a return from his ACL injury, at least not tonight as the Sixers (16-59) travel to Noel’s and Carter-William’s hometown to play the Boston Celtics (23-52). Both teams are coming off ugly 20 plus point defeats and will be looking to regroup.

After playing in two competitive games, the Charlotte Bobcats brought the Sixers back down to earth Wednesday night, demolishing them by 30 points, 123-93. The Bobcats torched the Sixers from the start, building a double digit lead by the end of the 1^st quarter. It was all downhill from there as Charlotte shot 53 percent from the floor against Philadelphia’s lackluster defense. Meanwhile, on the offensive end, the Sixers struggled from deep shooting just 22 percent (4-18) from beyond the arc. Al Jefferson led all scorers for charlotte with 25 points and Michael Carter-Williams led the Sixers in scoring with 22 points. It was certainly a hard watch for Sixers fans, especially after watching the team play exciting basketball and showing some sort of competitiveness in their two previous games.

As for Boston, they are coming off a lopsided sixth consecutive loss on Wednesday at the hands of the Washington Wizards, 118-92. The defeat was the largest of this season for the Celtics, and much like the Sixers, Boston’s 3-point shooting was extremely poor. The Celtics shot an abysmal 3 of 24 from 3-point range. Jared Sullinger provided the offense for the Celtics, leading the way with 25 points. The Wizards also had their way with the Celtics defense, as all five starters finished in double figures, led by Marcin Gortat with 22 points.

The Sixers are bad. The Celtics are bad. But somebody has to win.

Sixers win if they can show signs of playing decent defense like they did vs Detroit and Atlanta. Boston only scores 95.4 points/gm (27^th in NBA), and they are coming off a terrible shooting game against Washington from 3-point range. Sixers should stay content on defense and take their chances by letting Boston shoot from downtown.

Celtics win if they can just do what it feels like every other NBA team has done against the Sixers this season. Start hot, get out to a sizable early lead, and put the game away either late in the 3^rd quarter or beginning of the 4^th quarter. The Sixers are shooting only 43 percent from the floor this season, that’s good for last in the league. So Boston, score 100 points and the odds will be in your favor.

Game Notes:

• Sixers & Celtics have split their two previous meetings this season, Philadelphia winning 95-94, at the buzzer, on January 29^th, while Boston took the win 114-108 on February 5^th.
• Sixers are 1-28 since defeating the Celtics on January 29^th.
• Sixers have only scored 100 points or more a total of 3 times since the beginning of March. Boston, not much better. They have managed to score 100 only 4 times since the beginning of March.
• Celtics trying to avoid their second-longest losing streak of the season
• Jeff Green, Celtics leading scorer, is shooting only 34 percent in his last eight games.
• Sixers Thaddeus Young is averaging 19.3 points and shooting 51.5 percent in his last four games.

Starting Lineups:

Sixers Lineup:

PG Michael Carter-Williams

SG James Anderson

SF Hollis Thompson

PF Thaddeus Young

C Henry Sims

Celtics Lineup:

PG Rajon Rondo

SG Jerryd Bayless

SF Jeff Green

PF Brandon Bass

C Kris Humphries

Injuries:

Sixers: Jason Richardson (knee) will not play. Nerlens Noel (knee) is out as he continues to nurse his torn ACL from 2013. Byron Mullens (ankle) has missed the last three games and is listed as questionable for tonight’s game.

Celtics: Gerald Wallace (knee/ankle), Vitor Faverani (knee), and Keith Bogans (personal) are out for the remainder of the season. Avery Bradley (Achilles) did not play Wednesday vs Washington and is expected to miss tonight’s game as well.

Prediction:

This may be one of the last times the Sixers could potentially win this season.  I certainly expect them to hang around and play Boston tough but the Celtics will pull away towards the end, defeating the Sixers 107-96.

-Follow me on Twitter @WillRock2424