How the public is betting Celtics vs. 76ers first-round playoff series

The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers open their first-round series on Monday, August 17th at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The classic rivalry is renewed in the 2020 NBA playoffs, though the Sixers will be without Ben Simmons. We’ll take a look at how the public is betting Game 1 of the series and beyond.

Looking at the betting splits for this series, the public really has little to no faith in the Sixers pulling off an upset. At -360 to win the series, there’s an overwhelming amount of the handle coming in on Boston at 94 percent. Even the percentage of bets are at 84 in favor of the Celtics over the Sixers.

This is likely a result of no Ben Simmons for the Sixers, but really this matchup should be more even than people expect. Some have argued that the Sixers are a more balanced team with no Simmons and Joel Embiid on the floor at the same time. Plus, it’s not like the Celtics have anyone who can stop Embiid down low. It’s still a stretch to see Philly rip off the upset in this one, but it isn’t out of the question in my eyes.

Here’s the rest of the schedule for Celtics-Sixers in the first round:

Game 1: Mon, Aug 17 Philadelphia at Boston, 6:30 ET, ESPN
Game 2: Wed, Aug 19 Philadelphia at Boston, 6:30 ET, TNT
Game 3: Fri, Aug 21 Boston at Philadelphia, 6:30 ET, TNT
Game 4: Sun, Aug 23 Boston at Philadelphia, 1 ET, ABC
Game 5*: Tue, Aug 25 Philadelphia at Boston, TBD, TBD
Game 6*: Thu, Aug 27 Boston at Philadelphia, TBD, ESPN
Game 7*: Sun, Aug 29 Philadelphia at Boston, TBD, TNT