Getty Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics
In their past two meetings, the Boston Celtics have had the Philadelphia 76ers number, winning both contests between the two teams this season.
When speaking as part of his pre-game press conference, Sixers big man, Paul Reed, discussed his team’s mentality heading into the February 25 contest between the two rival teams.
“We lost to this team two times. You gotta get this win tonight. It’s a big win. This team we’re probably gonna see in the playoffs, it’s huge…It’s really us, we’ve been focusing more on ourselves, on our weaknesses. Coach been stressing execution a lot lately, and we believe that one of the things that if we get down pat late in the game that we can win most of these games that are close…Everybody on their team confidence is extremely high, and they know exactly what they can do. Most of the guys on their starting lineup are able to shoot threes, so you can’t really leave anybody open,” Reed said.
The Celtics currently occupy the top spot in the Eastern Conference and are widely considered to be a genuine championship favorite after what has been a largely impressive season for them thus far. The Sixers, however, sit third in the East, and have won 13 of their last 16 games, so will undoubtedly be entering the contest against Boston full of confidence.
Joel Embiid Not Worried About Celtics
When speaking to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, superstar center Joel Embiid was asked his thoughts on potentially having to overcome either the Celtics or Milwaukee Bucks in the post-season.
Focused on an #NBA playoff push, Joel Embiid says #Sixers ‘not worried about Boston or Milwaukee’ t.co/Y9RhrXhL6n via @phillyinquirer
“We’re not worried about Boston or Milwaukee,” Embiid said. “We are worried about ourselves. We can get better every single night. We can take this experience that we had [Thursday] and try to be better.”
Jayson Tatum Gives Update on Injured Wrist
When speaking to the media following the Celtics’ overtime win against the Indiana Pacers on February 23, Tatum gave an update on his injured wrist after taking a hard fall during the contest.
“That was scary. They always teach you not to put your hand out, but it was so quick. You guys probably saw I jumped up so quick because I was, like, I was scared. And I was, just, moving my hand, because that’s the one that’s been bothering me for a year now, and falling right on it, I was really, just, really just like trying to see if I could open and close, if I had strength, and it was painful for 5-10 minutes, but got it looked at, and I mean, it’s sore, but I’ll be alright,” Tatum said.
The Celtics will be hoping that Tatum can avoid any further trauma to his wrist so that it can continue to heal and allow him to be as close to 100% as possible for when the postseason begins in April. Unfortunately, considering the Celtics failed to add any further depth at the wing position, Tatum may be forced to continue racking up the regular-season minutes to help his team keep hold of the top seed in the conference.