The Philadelphia 76ers are diving into the playoffs minus Ben Simmons, but his team seems to have the right tools to push back and give Boston Celtics a fight. They also still have Joel Embiid, and he’s got the talent to take over an entire ball game on any given night.

Will that be the case, though, in Game 1? Which team will draw first blood? Catch this game live this Tuesday at 6:30 am (Manila time).

HOME TEAM: Boston Celtics (48-24, 26-10 at home)

It must sound like sweet music for the Celtics when head coach Brad Stevens recently said that Kemba Walker is healthy and ready to see action without playing-time restrictions in the playoffs, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

Walker has spent most of his time down in Orlando getting himself dialed up ahead of the postseason, as he’s averaged only 25.1 minutes per game since the NBA restart. But he’s looking at a significant bump in minutes right from the get-go, together with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Gordon Hayward.

Boston got tremendous production from Tatum and Brown in their only win in the regular season against the Sixers last February, with the former going off for 25 points and the latter coming up with a team-high 32 points.

Boston is also looking at a lesser Sixers team that’s missing Ben Simmons, so that’s one major obstacle out of the way of the Celtics, who have been averaging 113.7 points per game in the bubble.

ROAD TEAM: Philadelphia 76ers (43-30, 12-26 on the road)

Obviously, not having Simmons around is a problem for the Sixers no matter how much they try to downplay it. That being said, Simmons’ absence could open things up for Joel Embiid’s dominance at the post.

Without Simmons, the Sixers can give more minutes to a shooter to further stretch the floor for Embiid, who’s got the skills and size to dominate inside against Boston’s slim frontline.

The Cameroonian is at his best when he’s got space to bully his way past defenders, and being given additional space should allow him to put up big points.

Embiid leads the league in post-up field goals made per game. As a team, Philly paces the NBA with 17.0 post-ups per contest. Embiid ripped apart Boston’s interior defense back in December when he scored 38 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a 115-109 road win against the Celtics. 

Together with Al Horford, the Sixers will be tough customers inside for the Celtics, especially with those two bigs surrounded by a crew that is shooting over 40 3FG% in the bubble.

PREDICTIONS:

Joel Embiid will transform into a mythic beast in Game 1, as he leads the Sixers to an upset 113-108 win in Game 1.