The Philadelphia 76ers will take on the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Wednesday night with tipoff set for 8 p.m. ET from TD Garden in Boston. The game will air on TNT. The 76ers stole Game 1 from the Celtics in Boston despite being without Joel Embiid, and will hope to grab another win to go back to Philly up 2-0. The Celtics would like to level this series at 1-1 before hitting the road.
Embiid was listed as doubtful for Game 2 as he’s still dealing with the knee sprain. However, it was announced this morning that he will play in Game 2. For the Celtics, Marcus Smart popped up on the injury report as he’s dealing with a chest contusion. He is listed as questionable, but is expected to play.
The Celtics are 7.5-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook and the point total sits at 217.5. On the moneyline, the Celtics are -345 while the 76ers are +285.
Update — Joel Embiid and Marcus Smart are both playing in Game 2. The lines were already baked in with that.
76ers vs. Celtics, 8 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Celtics -7.5
Boston needs a victory tonight. Jaylen Brown had major struggles in the second half for the Celtics in Game 1 and I expect him to be much better in Game 2. They’ll need to figure a way to stop James Harden in this matchup, and I don't see him putting on a show agains like he did in Game 1. I think Embiid will be rusty in his return and not have his typical MVP-level game.
Jayson Tatum has to be better late in this matchup. In Game 1, it looked like Boston was going to win the game handily for most of the first half. But when you let a team that you’re better than hang around, things never end well. With Embiid back, these teams are right next to each other in skill level, but like I said, I don't think he goes off tonight. Take Boston to win, cover and level this series.
Over/Under: Under 217.5
This number is very low, but I think the 76ers offense falls back to Earth tonight. The Celtics defense is much better than they showed and will show up in this must win game. If the Celtics can limit Harden, the 76ers will have a tough time navigating things offensively. Embiid could get his points but even when he played in this series during the regular season, this under still cashed. I think this game finishes close to the total, but goes slightly under.