Boston Celtics News: Cs to meet Ben Simmons-less 76ers in first round

The Boston Celtics are officially scheduled to face off against the hobbled Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2020 postseason.

Though we’ve had a pretty good idea as to whom the Boston Celtics will be facing off against come the first round of the playoffs, the news has officially broken through: the Philadelphia 76ers are their matchup.

Made official Wednesday evening with the Indiana Pacers’ victory over the Houston Rockets, Philadelphia now looks ahead to their third consecutive postseason appearance — their second matchup against the Cs in a three-year span.

Coming into the bubble, we here at the Houdini deemed the 76ers as one of the main teams that could theoretically give Boston trouble due to their overwhelming size and their All-Star duo of Joel Embiid & Ben Simmons leading the way.

However, with the fact that Simmons is now out indefinitely as he rehabilitates from his left knee surgery that removed a “loose body,” that dynamic-duo has seemed to become a dynamic-uno and, thus, the matchup seems to be a bit less menacing.

Currently, the Celtics find themselves on a four-game winning streak, are 6-2 since entering the bubble, and boast an overall record of 48-23. Philadelphia, on the other hand, is currently in the midst of a two-game slide while holding a bubble record of 3-3 and an overall season record of 42-29.

The two teams met four times this season, with the 76ers winning the series three games to one.

While the Boston Celtics didn’t exactly fair too well against Philly during the regular season, this does not mean that history is destined to repeat itself — especially considering how the Cs have played of late in comparison to the 76ers.

However, at this time, all we really know is that they’ll be squaring off come next week.