By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
Less than a week after the Celtics shut down the Sixers 81-65 in the preseason finale, the old Atlantic Division rivals will face off once again to begin the 2015-16 regular season. Aside from their historic pasts, it’s interesting to see these two teams face off because of the respective paths the franchises are on in the present. Both organizations are in the midst of a calculated rebuild, the Celtics after the veteran core that brought them the 2008 title succumbed to Father Time, and the Sixers after they gambled on Andrew Bynum to get them off the treadmill of mediocrity and rolled a gutter ball (get it, it’s a Bynum bowling joke).
However, while both franchises are rebuilding, they each went about the process in about as drastically different a way as possible. I don’t think I need to expand upon the Sixers’ multi-year tanking which has spawned a thousand and one sports hot takes. Meanwhile, the Celtics always refused to completely bottom out while still doing a nice job collecting future draft considerations. The Brooklyn unprotected and Dallas top-7 protected first round picks in the upcoming draft look especially promising.
Last year, the Celtics even traded for Isaiah Thomas midway through the season to help them make a push for the playoffs. Ironically, the resulting 7th seed and 1st round playoff exit was exactly the sort of thing the Sixers were so desperate to get away from a few years back.
On the current roster, Boston goes legitimately 10 deep with quality NBA players, bolstering their young frontcourt with a pair of veterans in David Lee and Amir Johnson. Johnson, in particular, should prove a nice addition; he handles a lot of the dirty work on the defensive end the team lacked last season.
The depth across the roster along with the steady guiding hand of promising young head coach Brad Stevens has the Celtics positioned as one of the preseason darlings in the Eastern Conference. Many of the analytics projection systems have Boston pushing close to 50 wins, while they’re also a darkhorse pick to pass Toronto and win the Atlantic Division (although that’s more or less a meaningless honor now that division winners are no longer assured home court advantage in the first round).
From Philadelphia’s perspective, they find themselves in a tough hole for the opener. Nik Stauskas, who has yet to suit up in a Sixers uniform due to a stress reaction in his leg, is a game-time decision. If he is unable to go, the Sixers would have just 9 players available in tonight’s game. 4 of those 9 players have never before played in an NBA game (Jahlil Okafor, T.J. McConnell, Richaun Holmes, and Christian Wood).
With Robert Covington, the team’s most reliable option on the offensive end, out with a sprained MCL, the Sixers should struggle immensely on the offensive end. The Sixers may have some nights where they surprise people this season, but I don’t think this is one of them. The Celtics should be able to use their depth to overwhelm an undermanned and extremely raw Sixers group, and take this season opener handily.
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