Sixers vs. Celtics: 3 things to watch for in critical Game 1

3. The second unit

The expectation is Brett Brown will use a nine-man rotation in the playoffs. Let’s assume that Thybulle starts in place of Al Horford, which seems imminently possible given the matchups in this series. The second unit locks are Horford, Furkan Korkmaz, and Alec Burks.

The ninth man, however, is undecided. The favorite to inhabit that spot was Glenn Robinson III, who is now expected to miss at least the next few games. In his place, Mike Scott is the tentative favorite, and to a degree, I understand it. The Sixers should look to leverage their size advantage in this series.

With that said, Scott has never once leveraged his size advantage. Maybe not true, but it happens very rarely. He’d just as soon take a one-legged fadeaway over Isaiah Thomas. Scott is fine when he’s hitting 3s — which has been the case in Orlando — but he’s not the kind of player who can turn a series around.

I’m interested to see if Brett Brown turns to Raul Neto at any point in this series. The Sixers’ most fluid offense comes with real guards on the floor. Neto is the only true point guard on the roster. He doesn’t commit lazy turnovers, and he’s a spunky slasher who can penetrate the defense to create for others.

Neto averaged over 17 points per contest in the Sixers’ final three seedings games, and on the surface, his skill set is much more useful than Scott’s. There are valid defensive concerns with Neto — who the Celtics would surely target — but his offensive contributions have gone a long way as of late.

He’s a useful player, and someone Brown should think about using in this series. At the very least, Brown should keep him in his back pocket if things go sideways. Neto can provide a needed spark off the pine.