Kristaps Porzingis and the Boston Celtics will be taking on Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers tonight. As many NBA fans will be aware, Porzingis, along with Jrue Holiday, have been the latest additions made by the Celtics this NBA offseason.
Around 10 games into the season, the Celtics currently hold a record of 8 wins and 2 losses. Similarly, Embiid and the 76ers hold an identical record after an impressive start to the season despite losing James Harden.
As both these teams with the best record in the Eastern Conference face off for the 1st position, fans might want to know the injury reports, expected rosters, and predictions for this game.
Kristaps Porzingis is listed as questionable for the Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers game tonight
Veteran fans will recall that Porzingis was drafted into the NBA by the New York Knicks with the 4th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Given his size and unique abilities, there was no denying his potential. However, injuries greatly hampered the earlier stages of his career.
After playing for other teams such as the Dallas Mavericks and Washington Wizards, Poringis is arguably the biggest change that the Boston Celtics have made to their lineup in this NBA offseason. Unfortunately for Celtics fans, he is listed as questionable for this game against the 76ers due to a right knee contusion.
Thus, the rest of the Celtics will have to step up in his absence if they look to get this win against Philadelphia. That said, here are the injury reports and expected starting lineups for this game.
Boston Celtics injury report
- Neemias Queta (out)
- Kristaps Porzinigs (questionable)
Boston Celtics expected starting lineup
- Jrue Holiday
- Derrick White
- Jayson Tatum
- Jaylen Brown
- Al Horford
Philadelphia 76ers injury report
- Kelly Oubre Jr. (out)
- Nicholas Batum (questionable)
Philadelphia 76ers expected starting lineup
- Tyrese Maxey
- De’Anthony Melton
- Tobias Harris
- Robert Covington
- Joel Embiid
As we can tell from the injury reports, neither side looks perfectly healthy for this matchup. Nonetheless, let us take a look at the predictions for the Celtics vs 76ers game.
The 76ers are slightly favored over the Celtics tonight
Although one could argue that any one of these teams could win this game considering that they have identical records, we have to go with the 76ers tonight. After all, losing Porzingis and relying solely on Al Horford to stop Joel Embiid might hurt the Celtics greatly.
While the 76ers will be missing Kelly Oubre Jr., losing him for this game will not affect them as much as losing Kristaps will hurt the Celtics. Therefore, we have the 76ers winning this game and taking control of the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Be that as it may, this is still expected to be a close game that could go either way.