Looking at the Sixers-Celtics upcoming playoff series through the lens of how they matched up during the regular season would be a mistake.
The teams met four times this season with Boston winning three of those contests, with Kyrie Irving. With Irving out of the lineup on Jan. 18, their final regular-season game against each other, the Sixers won, 89-80. But, JJ Redick did not play in that game, Jerryd Bayless started in his place, Trevor Booker was a Sixer, and it was before Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli were added to the Sixers roster.
Both teams are different now, and it’s a better idea to look at how they have played through the first round.