National Basketball Association
Preview
Philadelphia at Boston
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, March 6, 2025
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

The Philadelphia 76ers will attempt to end a five-game road losing streak when they face the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.

The 76ers have lost 11 of their last 12 games overall. This will be Philadelphia's fourth game since the team announced Joel Embiid would miss the rest of the season for left knee injury management.

Philadelphia is dealing with injuries to some of its other key players as well. Leading scorer Tyrese Maxey, who averages 26.3 points per game, didn't play in Tuesday's 126-112 loss to Minnesota after falling and landing on his back during Monday's game against Portland.

Paul George returned to the court Tuesday after missing one game with groin soreness but missed 8 of 11 attempts from the field and finished with seven points, seven rebounds and six assists. He left the game in the fourth quarter when the groin tightened.

"It didn't feel 100 percent to start," George said. "But just tried to go out there and give something. By that time -- that third, fourth quarter -- it was just tight and I just couldn't move."

One bright spot for Philadelphia lately has been the play of 24-year-old Quentin Grimes, who is averaging 17.7 points and is shooting 52.4 percent from the field -- 38.2 percent from 3-point territory - in 11 games since he was acquired from Dallas. Grimes scored 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting Tuesday, had a career-high 44 points in a victory over Golden State on Saturday, and posted a career-high nine assists in Monday's loss to Portland.

"That's a couple games in a row now where he's getting a lot of attention, a lot of game plan and scheming and he still found a way to shoot a really high percentage again," Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said. "He was able to do that playing the point guard as well (in place of Maxey), which was nice to see. I thought he handled that really well and, again, was really impressive out there."

The Celtics, who have won eight of their last 10 games and already have clinched a postseason berth, will play their second game in as many nights. Boston beat Portland 128-118 Wednesday despite missing starters Jrue Holiday (finger), Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Jayson Tatum (shoulder). Tatum is averaging a team-high 26.8 points per game. Holiday and Porzingis each missed their third straight contest.

Payton Pritchard came off the bench to score a career-high 43 points for Boston, which also received a career-high 41 from Derrick White. Pritchard made 10 3-pointers and White had nine.

"They were tremendous," Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. "With guys out and playing against a really good Portland team, we knew we were going to need to have guys step up, and the way those two played shows a lot about who they are. They do a lot of the dirty stuff when we're fully healthy, and to have a night like this where those two can show what they're capable of was big for us. We're lucky to have them, and it was a lot of fun to watch them do that."

The Celtics are 2-1 against the 76ers this season. Boston prevailed 118-110 in Philadelphia on Feb. 2 and 124-104 there on Feb. 20. Philadelphia won the first meeting, in Boston, 118-114 on Christmas Day.

--Field Level Media

Stats and Records
Team Comparison
  W/L Strk Home Away Day Night Div Conf
Philadelphia 21-40 L2 11-21 10-19 3-1 18-39 3-9 14-24
Boston 44-18 W2 20-11 24-7 7-2 37-16 10-2 31-11
Last Meeting
Philadelphia Boston
Date Away Home Pts Reb FG% Pts Reb FG%
2/20/25 BOS 124 PHI 104 104 44 43.0 124 49 48.3
Player Stats
Previous Matchup
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Philadelphia P. George 17 50.0 0
Boston P. Pritchard 28 55.6 0
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Philadelphia G. Yabusele 8 3 5
Boston J. Tatum 11 0 11
Assists Player  
Philadelphia T. Maxey 7
Boston J. Tatum 10
Season
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Philadelphia T. Maxey 1411 43.4 261
Boston J. Tatum 1623 45.1 299
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Philadelphia K. Oubre Jr. 369 97 272
Boston J. Tatum 537 42 495
Assists Player  
Philadelphia T. Maxey 332
Boston J. Tatum 360
Quickchart Matchup
Philadelphia Philadelphia Off vs  Boston Boston Defense
Philadelphia Off vs Boston - Points For 109.1 Points For
Philadelphia Off vs Boston - Points Against 108.4 Points Against
Philadelphia - FG% 45.5 FG%
Boston - FG% 45.3 FG%
Philadelphia - Reb 39.2 Reb
Boston - Reb 44.1 Reb
Boston Boston Off vs  Philadelphia Philadelphia Defense
Boston Off vs Philadelphia - Points For 117.0 Points For
Boston Off vs Philadelphia - Points Against 113.8 Points Against
Boston - FG% 46.1 FG%
Philadelphia - FG% 48.8 FG%
Boston - Reb 45.0 Reb
Philadelphia - Reb 44.8 Reb