Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics set to clash to open 2022-23 NBA season

The 2022-22 NBA season will start with a bang as the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics prepare to clash. 

This is the day we as basketball fans anxiously wait for every year. The beginning of a new season always brings new hope for every team including a fresh start, another opportunity for players to follow their dream and chase that ever-so-elusive NBA title and it brings brand new storylines for us to follow each and every day.

The NBA schedule makers gave us fans a treat with the first game of the year between two elite teams in the Eastern Conference as the Philadelphia 76ers take on the Boston Celtics from TD Garden.

Will this be the year the Sixers get over the hump and get to the NBA Finals? Can the Celtics make another run at a title?

A Philadelphia 76ers primer:

This could very well be the year the Sixers turn their championship dreams into reality. The team appears to be more complete than it’s ever been and the additions they added in the offseason should complement Joel Embiid perfectly.

Montrezl Harrell, PJ Tucker, and De’Anthony Melton are all players who bring quality depth and are all well-rounded on both ends but the thing all three have in common is their defensive abilities.

The Sixers’ defense last season wasn’t terrible at all as they were the 11th highest-ranked defensive team in the NBA but general manager Elton Brand knew they had to get better defensively in order to get where they are trying to go.

This team has the talent and potential to be really good and with the additions to the roster, I would not be surprised if their record from last season vastly improves and I wouldn’t be shocked to see them in the Finals. The Sixers’ last Finals appearance came back in 2001 when they were led by MVP Allen Iverson.

These players are yearning for a title, the city of Philadelphia is starving for a championship, and the opportunity to get it done this season is looking promising. One of the most important factors heading into the season is the health of Embiid and in the event that he does have to miss time due to injury can James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and company hold down the fort until he returns?

The Sixers have not done well during games Embiid missed last season as he missed a total of 14 games and during that span, the Sixers went 6-8. The season before last, Embiid missed 21 games as the Sixers went 10-11. It’s imperative that the training staff does everything they can to ensure the health of their franchise cornerstone.

Even though Embiid is just 28 years old and still in his prime, there exists a sense of urgency within the Sixers organization to win and to win now in order to take advantage of having an MVP candidate.

Another detail people will be paying close attention to is how well Harden performs and whether he will provide enough to take any pressure off of Embiid. Harden posted his lowest total in points per game last year in the last 12 seasons as he averaged 21 points but would it be better for the team if he increased his scoring average?

We all know that Harden can get buckets when he gets ready. The 3-time scoring champion has altered his approach handling more of the playmaking duties but the Sixers may be better off allowing him to be more aggressive. With the attention he draws from defenders and with his court vision, Harden will open the floor for his teammates as he has embraced that role but will he still have that killer instinct when his team needs him to?

The Sixers will be tested right out of the gate on opening night as they will face the defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics.

The last time they played, the Celtics demolished the Sixers on their home floor 135-87 and they know if they have any hopes of bringing a title back to Philadelphia, the Celtics serve as one of the roadblocks they must get past.

There will be plenty of intriguing matchups to pay attention to as it will be interesting to see who Doc Rivers chooses to defend Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Sixers have defenders who are capable of chasing them around the perimeter and who can switch on either one on a pick-and-roll, most notably Matisse Thybulle. He is the Sixers’ best on-ball defender as he led the team in steals per game last season.

If they want a more physical defender to guard either Tatum or Brown, then Tucker is the man for the job. He has been a defensive force in this league for years and has the ability to disrupt the flow of opposing offenses and make things difficult for the other team’s top offensive threat.

A Boston Celtics primer:

After losing a grueling six-game series to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, it gave the Celtics and their fans hope that they will be making plenty of Finals appearances for years to come. In his first season at the helm, Ime Udoka led the Celtics to a 51-31 record and also led them to their first appearance in the Finals since 2010.

After a highly successful season with so much to look forward to, disturbing news surfaced about Udoka violating company policies within the Celtics organization and they decided to suspend him for the entire season.

Joe Mazzulla will serve as head coach in Udoka’s absence. He has been with the Celtics since 2019 and Mazzulla’s situation could be a rewarding one as he will get the opportunity to showcase his talents and coach a team that is primed to compete for a title. Every front office will have their eye on the Celtics to see how Mazzulla handles being given the reigns to this team as he has one of the top dynamic duos in the league with Tatum and Brown.

This could be an audition for future coaching vacancies if he does well, and depending on what happens with Udoka, Mazzulla could become the Celtics’ coach of the present and future. Marcus Smart returns as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and he will have a new and welcomed addition in the backcourt with Malcolm Brogdon.

During their Finals run, the Celtics lacked a playmaker and a guard who was capable of running the offense fluidly. Brogdon will serve as that high-level professional who instantly makes any team better from top to bottom. We can expect Brogdon to become the third scoring option behind Tatum and Brown due to his ability to shoot the three, get to the foul line and knock down a high percentage of his free throws.

On top of all that, there is no defensive drop-off when Smart goes to the bench. The Celtics will face a dangerous and revamped Sixers squad as they will have to figure out how to slow Embiid if that’s even possible. Embiid has feasted on the Celtics his entire career as he has averaged 26.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 18 games against Boston, and it seems unlikely that they will be able to slow him down this time around.

Their best defensive player other than Smart, Robert Williams won’t be available until later this season as he recovers from knee surgery. Those defensive duties of guarding Embiid will most likely go to Grant Williams and Al Horford and we could even see Tatum or Brown guarding him if the game is close late in the 4th quarter. The Celtics should be prepared for a grueling and physical game.