Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers: Picks, Predictions, Odds and Player Props

The 2024/25 NBA season resumes in earnest following the All-Star break and Thursday’s slate features a number of compelling matchups, including the Boston Celtics facing off against the Philadelphia 76ers in a classic Eastern Conference rivalry.

Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan for the 76ers this season, in large part due to a myriad of injuries suffered by Joel Embiid, Paul George and other key players in head coach Nick Nurse’s rotation.

However, Philadelphia is still in the Play-In Tournament race and the 76ers can get off on the right foot coming out of the break against a Boston team that they already beaten on Christmas Day.

On the other side, the Celtics are rounding into form following a somewhat disappointing first 40 games of the season compared to the last campaign, in which they won the NBA Championship.

Boston should have revenge on its mind after the previous meeting, and we can expect Jayson Tatum and company to play with renewed focus and effort following the week off. 

Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers betting picks and predictions

Boston Celtics -7.0 (-110)

Ordinarily, our expert would look to back the 76ers at home as seven-point underdogs, especially considering that Philadelphia has proven it can hang with - and even beat - Boston in recent seasons. 

With that said, this game is a bit of a different animal. There are no scheduling advantages for Philadelphia in this matchup, and there are no surprises on the injury report either. Both teams are expected to have their best players on the floor on Thursday, so it’s not as if the Sixers are going to sneak up on Boston in this game, nor is it a sleepy spot for the Celtics. 

Joe Mazulla’s team certainly hasn’t been perfect this season, but they are capable of hanging a big number on a mediocre team, and that’s exactly what the 76ers are at this point.

Philadelphia’s defense (23rd in defensive rating) already struggles with protecting the rim and defending the perimeter, and that's exactly what you don't want against a Celtics offense that will spread out an opposing defense and cause mismatches all over the floor with their talent and perimeter shooting.

Additionally, it doesn’t help matters that Paul George is in the midst of a very poor shooting slump, and his struggles certainly should continue against one of the better defenses in basketball, particularly on the perimeter. 

Ultimately, the spot and data favor Boston in this game as well. In fact, road favorites coming out of the All-Star Break are 39-25 against the spread since 2003, including a shocking 14-5 against the spread record over the last five seasons.

Over 223.5 Total Points (-110)

Regardless of what team ends up winning or covering the spread, our expert is of the opinion that we’ll see a bit more scoring than usual in this one. 

Even though we don’t have the 76ers keeping this one too close, there are still avenues for Philadelphia to succeed on offense in this one. After all, the 76ers have a plethora of talent and should be able to put some real pressure on the Boston defense thanks to the Tyrese Maxey and Embiid pick-and-roll. 

As for the Celtics, they're putting up nearly 118 points per game over their last 10 games, and we expect that trend to continue in this one. These teams were noticeably less healthy in the last meeting than they are now, and that game still produced a whopping 232 total points. We could be in for another hot shooting contest at the Wells Fargo Center.  

There is a real possibility for either team to cover the spread in this game while clearing the total of 223.5, and that is the only way our expert can look in this matchup.

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Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers odds

Boston Celtics	-275 ML
Philadelphia 76ers	+225 ML
Spread	BOS -7.0
Total Points	223.5 O/U

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.