Can NBA history repeat itself? Now that everyone is penciling in the Boston Celtics as the NBA Eastern Conference Champs for years to come, there is this one minor detail they are ignoring. Here come the Philadelphia 76ers!
No Philadelphia 76ers fan will deny that the Boston Celtics are good this season. Very good indeed. At 40-18, and with a defense second to only that of the San Antonio Spurs, they appear to be a lock for the NBA Championship series this year. And they are without a player who could very likely prove to be an incredible compliment to their roster in Gordon Hayward.
When you look at their salary structure, and their unique combination of veteran and youth, they appear to be a team capable of winning for a very long time. They have not overloaded on veterans. In fact, the Celtics have painstakingly been very vigilant to maintain a balance of very productive stars with high-ceiling young players to develop along the way. And so far, it’s working.
Already anointed
Yes, this Celtics team has some serious success potential. But potential is in no way realized fact. So there is still a small matter of even getting to the NBA Championship to compete for the NBA title. But that all seems like a given this season to many. In fact, before the Celtics had won anything, there are already those who are anointing them of NBA dominance for the foreseeable future:
With the Cavs falling apart and few other teams truly stepping up, another era of Boston dominance may be upon us.https://t.co/ZFTsBtxSoz
— SB Nation NBA 🏀 (@SBNationNBA) February 6, 2018
But there is one minor detail missing. One slight vacuum. A pothole on the highway to Celtics dominance of the NBA. After all, the Boston Celtics have yet to win anything, and they are getting a rather early anointing, aren’t they?
Philly vs. New England… again?
The Philadelphia 76ers stand in their way. Perhaps not this year. Perhaps not even next season. But those Celtics front court roles are built around the health of 31 year old Aron Baynes and 31 year old Al Horford. Conversely, the Philadelphia 76ers front court is forged in the furnaces of youth. As you strip away the free agents from the 76ers roster, you reveal a core of players in the range of 27 to 19.
Yes, the Boston Celtics have 25 year old Kyrie Irving, an outstanding veteran NBA player who has played 485 games so far. 27 year old Robert Covington of the Philadelphia 76ers has played nearly half that number, or just 262 games. And there it is, the wear and tear factor.
The rivalry remains
Despite the absence of the Philadelphia 76er in playoff discussion in the past five years, there will always be that rivalry waiting to surface at the right moment. It was no accident that a young rookie Jahlil Okafor had a confrontation with Celtics’ fans. The surprising part is that no 76ers players had a run in at Boston prior to that.
In many great rivalries, there is a mix of dislike mixed with a certain amount of respect. But the Celtics fans have not shown respect to anything Philadelphian in my lifetime. In fact, it’s been the opposite.
Dr. J vs. Byrd
The Celtics and Sixers of the Julius Erving / Larry Byrd days hold the peak of the ever heated rivalry. In those day, there was a presumption that either the 76ers or the Celtics would advance to the Championships. In those days, the regular season was merely a tune-up for that ever important playoff series.
And when so much fell upon that playoff round, there was an overload of competitive heat between the two teams. Even the superstars get into the heat of the moment.
Larry Bird and Julius Erving choke eachother during a 1984 Celtics-Sixers game: pic.twitter.com/OWHvub57
— SI Vault (@si_vault) May 11, 2012
Nothing captures the essence of the emotions between Celtics and 76ers fans like that image of Dr. J and Larry Byrd trying to choke each other out. There is no other professional sports rivalry that comes close to this one. None. Nada.
Celtics Fan Frustration
When the 2017-2018 season opened, the Boston Celtics ran away with the NBA Eastern Conference so quickly that many simply surrendered and anointed them as the Eastern Conference Champions. But as the season fades into post-season, so too has the Celtics success. Just 3-3 in February 2018, the Celtics have fallen .5 games behind the Toronto Raptors, and were decimated by a newly retooled Cleveland Cavaliers team who led a flurry of trades at the NBA Trade Deadline. In a post game interview, Cavaliers star LeBron James included the Philadelphia 76ers in the company of Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics.
That inclusion, while intended for several reasons, was a swipe at Boston fans who do not consider the 76ers at their level yet.
Celtics fading at the wrong time
Still, Boston is beginning to come back to earth now. A significant contributing factor is the lack of offense. They are the NBA’s 25th ranked offense among 30 teams. And that’s not going to carry them anywhere in the NBA playoffs.
All of this, of course, feeds the annual notion that the Boston Celtics cannot advance in the playoffs. The 2016-2017 Celtics ended the season as the top seed in the Eastern Conference. But that team struggled to get past both the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards before losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now, the Celtics are fading once more, and the resurgence of the Cavaliers brings all those fears of playoff hopes dashed once more.
Philly getting hot at the right time
Conversely, the Philadelphia 76ers are learning how to win now. With a 5-1 record in February 2018, the 76ers are putting points on the board (avg 105 PPG) while showing some good defense (avg 95.2 PPG). This is still a roster without Markelle Fultz nor Furkan Korkmaz. This team is hitched to the play of rookie Ben Simmons and second year player Joel Embiid, which means turnovers will remain an issue. But most of all, this is a team with the pieces falling together at the right time for a playoff run
And unlike many playoff bound teams, the Philadelphia 76ers have a ton of talent in the pipeline to reload the roster each season for years to come.
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Playoff meeting?
The 76ers will not face the Celtics for the remainder of this season, unless it is in the playoffs. But that 89-80 victory at Boston now sets the stage for a confrontation should it arrive. And with the arrival of Marco Belinelli, the 76ers roster is a little deeper and robust at the all important wing position.
When the Celtics held a 3-0 record against the 76ers, there was a fear that could lead to mental leverage should the teams face in post-season. But with that last game win, the 76ers removed the troubles against the Celtics. And as the season has played out, the team is becoming better on the court and more confident. The Philadelphia 76ers will not be such an easy team to face in post season.
NBA Renaissance
Many modern basketball fans do not realize just how heated the Boston Celtics Philadelphia 76ers rivalry was in the history of the NBA. Their rivalry is unlike the exchange between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, or the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles.
You see, the rivalry of the Celtics and 76ers grew from knowing these teams would meet each year in the playoffs. Legendary shooting guard Andrew Toney earned his nickname “The Boston Strangler” from his ability to single-handedly dominate the Celtics in post season play.
To every warrior, a competitor will rise
Now, with the rise of the Boston Celtics to new heights, many are pointing and declaring the future of the NBA “the era of the Boston Celtics”. Not so fast my friend. The NBA is much like “The Force” of the Star Wars genre. This NBA balances out. And now that the Boston Celtics have risen so quickly, a challenger must now rise to restore the balance. That team will be the Philadelphia 76ers. And despite the headstart, the 76ers will quickly catch up.
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The Philadelphia 76ers stand in the way of the Boston Celtics. Perhaps not this year. Perhaps not even next season. But the Philadelphia 76ers have their own aspirations for the NBA Championship. And while the Celtics may have gotten a jump towards that goal, nothing is decided just yet. After all, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons have combined for just 128 NBA games. Let’s hold off on anointing anyone until we see just how good these 76ers become, shall we?