4 things that are going to annoy Celtics fans beyond belief against the 76ers

For the fourth time in the last decade, the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers will face off in the postseason. Philly’s Play-In victory over the Orlando Magic punched their ticket to North Station for a Game 1 matchup with Boston on Sunday.

While the Celtics are heavily favored to advance past the 76ers (-900 favorites), it doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. In fact, it may prove to be an annoying matchup for Boston.

Here are a few reasons why:

Nick Nurse’s perpetual state of shock

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has been around for a while. He spent five seasons at the helm of the Toronto Raptors, winning an NBA title in 2019, and now is in his third year with Philly.

If there’s one thing fans know about Nurse, it’s that he is in a perpetual state of shock. Get ready, the broadcast is going to cut to a closeup of him on the sidelines with his mouth agape, after he sees a call he doesn’t agree with.

Even during Wednesday’s Play-In game, Nurse got his air time.

Kyle Lowry is going to be there

A forgotten piece of this 76ers puzzle -- Kyle Lowry. Don’t get it twisted, Lowry isn’t going to play in this series. He’d be the first to tell you that.

The 40-year-old guard, however, will be there. You’re going to see him. You’re going to think that there’s a chance that he does something dirty to injure one of Boston’s stars. Prepare yourself.

Lowry proved to be an annoying gnat with the Raptors in the 2020 bubble playoff series against the Celtics. Taking charges, flopping, the whole nine -- that’s what he was about. Cs fans got additional doses of the Lowry special in 2022 and 2023 in Boston’s battles with Miami.

Watch out, Joel Embiid might come back

Philadelphia is expected to be without former MVP center Joel Embiid, who had an appendectomy on Apr. 9, in this series.

As of Thursday, there’s still no timetable for his expected return.

Celtics fans should prepare themselves.

Probably starting in the three-day window between Games 2&3, reports are going to trickle out that Embiid is back at the 76ers practice facility and has started to “ramp up” towards a return.

It’s going to be the same, “watch out, he might play” charade that the Brooklyn Nets pulled with Ben Simmons in 2022, who was never going to play in that series.

Andre Drummond is going to make threes and it’s going to be upsetting

You read that right. If you haven’t been paying much attention to the Sixers or the NBA in general this season, Andre Drummond shoots threes now.

He made two of them in Philly’s Play-In victory over Orlando, including the dagger.

Even Andre Drummond is surprised with how frequently his own threes are going in.

The former UConn standout shot 35.6% from deep on 1.4 attempts per game this season. He’s not lethal, but he can make you pay for leaving him open every once in a while.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow