NBA Picks & Predictions: Celtics vs. 76ers (Friday)
Friday's NBA slate features three massive Game 3 matchups. All three series are tied at one game apiece, and Friday’s outcomes are critical to each team's postseason survival. Let's dive deeper into these matchups for our best NBA picks for Friday, April 24th’s game Celtics vs. 76ers.
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Friday’s Best NBA Picks & Predictions: Celtics vs. 76ers
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers
Tuesday night had one of the most shocking outcomes of the NBA playoffs so far. The 76ers, as double-digit underdogs, went into Boston and came away with an outright victory. How did they do it? An otherworldly deep shooting performance was the key to their success. The 76ers went 19-of-39 from deep as they pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back.
If you dive deep into the box score, though, that shooting performance was the only thing that kept them afloat. Boston won the battle on the boards, at the free-throw line and points in the paint. All the little things that typically spell wins in the playoffs went to Boston, but they were unable to overcome that shooting performance by Philadelphia.
During the regular season, Philadelphia was one of the worst shooting teams. Their 53% effective field-goal rate (eFG%) ranked 25th in the league, and from three-point range, they shot just 34.9%. Even though they'll be in front of a home crowd, we should expect to see some shooting regression. If there is regression, then there is very little that Philadelphia is going to do better than Boston in this series.
Boston was a double-digit favorite in both of the first two games in this series. The box scores indicate that, despite the series being tied, Boston was the better team on both nights. They should show that again on Friday night and pull off a big road win to take a lead in the series.
Pick: Celtics -7.5 (-106)