NBA Game of the Week for the Week of March 19-March 25
Coming into this week the Boston Celtics, who have won the last four Atlantic Division titles, trail the Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia 76ers by one and a half games. The NBA Game of the Week is the second of three regular-season meetings between these two teams.
With these division rivals playing just three times this season, this game takes on added importance for Boston. With a win, the Celtics can gain a game on the 76ers and make the Atlantic Division race (which has belonged to Philadelphia) much more interesting. But a loss would put Boston in a precarious position. The Celtics would lose the season series to the 76ers and would have to win the division outright, since Philadelphia would own the tiebreaker should the two teams finish the season with the same record.
The Celtics will be closing out a season-long eight-game road trip when they visit Philadelphia on Friday, March 23. The NBA Game of the Week will be the third game of a four-game week for both teams. Before closing their trip against the 76ers, the Celtics will visit the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks. Philadelphia will visit the seven-win Charlotte Bobcats and host the New York Knicks before the matchup with Boston.
(All statistics and records are through March 18)
Friday, March 23, Boston Celtics (23-21) at Philadelphia 76ers (25-20), 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
On March 7, in the first meeting between these teams, the 76ers totally dominated the Celtics. In that game, second-year guard Evan Turner scored a game-high 26 points on 11-for-19 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Philadelphia to a 103-71 victory.
If the Celtics want to become the second horse in the Atlantic Division race, they will have to find a way to manufacture some points when they face the league's top defense Friday night. Philadelphia leads the NBA in defensive efficiency (94.7 points allowed per 100 possessions), opponent points allowed (87.8 points per game) and opponent field-goal percentage allowed (41.8 percent). They also rank in the top five in defensive rebounding (second, 32.9 per game) and opponent three-point field-goal percentage allowed (fourth, 31.7 percent).
Boston ranks near the bottom of the league in both offensive efficiency (25th, 98.5 points per 100 possessions) and scoring (26th, 91.4 points per game). However, since the All-Star break, the Celtics are averaging 96.8 points per game and that includes the abysmal 71-point performance that they had against the 76ers earlier in the month. This five-point scoring surge has helped Boston start the second half of the season 8-4.
If the Celtics can manufacture some points and play their usual solid defense (they are among the league leaders in defensive efficiency, opponent points allowed, opponent field-goal percentage allowed and opponent three-point field goal percentage allowed) on Friday, they will give themselves a legitimate chance to come away with a win that will keep them in the division race.
Philadelphia, who has lost three in a row, will need to take advantage of the fact that Boston will be a road-weary team playing the second game of a back-to-back. If the 76ers protect their home court and take advantage of a tired Celtics team, they will win the season series against their division rivals and stay ahead of the pack in the Atlantic Division race.
The Atlantic Division winner will automatically get one of the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference. So this game may potentially determine which of these two teams will open the playoffs at home and which will start their postseason on the road.
Mark is a lifelong fan of the NBA who has loved the game of basketball ever since his first trip to an NBA arena. Mark has watched more basketball games than anyone can count and has more than 100 articles about the NBA published on the internet. Mark also shares his random NBA musings and game-by-game predictions on RandomNBAFan.com.
Information from ESPN.com's NBA Schedule, 2011-2012 NBA Regular Season Divisional Standings, Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers—Box Score—March 07, 2012, Hollinger's NBA Team Stats, and 2011-12 Regular Season NBA Team Stats was used for this article.
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