76ers vs Celtics Odds, Spread and Predictions

• The 76ers and Celtics meet on Wednesday, December 1st
• Boston is a 2.5-point home favorite
• Find the odds, spread, preview, and pick below

Two teams with identical 11-10 records will face off on Wednesday, December 1st when the Philadelphia 76ers hit the road to take on the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.

Philly is coming off a win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night, but they’ve gone just 3-7 in their last 10 games. The C’s meanwhile took down the struggling Toronto Raptors on Sunday behind a team-high 21 points from Marcus Smart.

76ers vs Celtics Odds

Odds as of November 30th at FanDuel.

Boston opened up as a 2.5-point favorite, despite a poor recent track record versus Philly. In three meetings last season, the Sixers swept Boston, outscoring them by 30 points.

Tough Road Trip For Philly

The Sixers will embark on a four-game road trip starting on Wednesday in Boston, but it won’t be easy. Philly will face the Hawks later in the week, then also an exciting Hornets team on back-to-back occasions. Doc Rivers’ squad have actually played better away, posting a 6-5 record and it’ll be very important to get started on the right foot in Beantown.

Joel Embiid and Co. are struggling to win lately, but their victory against Orlando was a positive sign. The Magic actually did a great job of limiting Embiid, who dropped a mere 16 points. In fact, it wasn’t exactly a great offensive performance from the rotation, with only three players finishing in double-digits. Seth Curry led the charge with 27 points and really thrived off all the attention that was put on Embiid. The sharpshooter went 10 for 13 from the field and 3 for 5 from downtown.

However, the 76ers did get sloppy in this contest, especially in the third quarter. They coughed up a 16-point lead while shooting just 39% from the field. Embiid looked rather sluggish in the second half and recently revealed that COVID-19 hit him very hard. It showed in his off night. A few clutch free throws from the Cameroonian and starting guard Tyrese Maxey in the dying minutes of the fourth sealed the deal for Philly though.

24 PTS | 2 REB | 2 STL

the Curry was hot tonight. 🌶

🎥 presented by @PALottery pic.twitter.com/Jrko2OB0Z1

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 30, 2021

Embiid has to bounce back on Wednesday and set the tone early. The Sixers will also be looking to shoot the ball a lot better from three-point land, where they’re currently sitting ninth in the Association with a 36% clip. It was always going to take some time for this team to get back in a rhythm after various injuries and COVID-19 problems, but the time is now to figure it out and grab a statement win against a conference rival.

Celtics Starting to Figure it Out

After a slow start to the season, the Celtics are playing a lot better over the last couple of weeks. Coming into Wednesday, Ime Udoka’s squad has won four of their previous six games and even beat the Los Angeles Lakers during that span. Boston is finally at full strength, but Jaylen Brown is listed as questionable against the Sixers due to injury management after he recently returned from a hamstring problem.

The C’s defense, which is currently ranked sixth in the Association, has really stepped it up, giving up less than 100 points in three of the last four contests. In Sunday’s game, they pulled off a 109-97 victory in Toronto.

It wasn’t the usual victims who picked up the slack offensively, though. Jayson Tatum collected just 8 points, while Brown had 16. However, Tatum dished out 10 assists and you could see how valuable his playmaking was based on the scoring output from his teammates.

Marcus Smart brought the energy tonight as our @gatorade player of the game 🔋 pic.twitter.com/oamJllAsI0

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 29, 2021

Boston had five different players finish with 15 points or more, showing a very well-rounded attack past their two superstars. Smart’s 21 points were a huge step in the right direction for him because his production is lacking this season. The guard was attacking the rim with confidence and had it going from long range, shooting 4 for 10. Overall, it was a fundamentally sound performance from the Celtics on both ends.

76ers vs Celtics Pick

The Sixers cooked the Celtics in 2020/21 and most importantly, Embiid showed out in every single contest, averaging 38.3 points in three appearances. That’s a couple of games now for Philly to get their feet under them with their regular starters and I expect them to come out and continue their dominance against Boston. If you need more evidence, they’re also 7-4 against the spread on the road.

Pick: Philadelphia 76ers +2.5 (-110)