Final: Sixers 102, Celtics 100 - C's struggle down the stretch again

BOSTON CELTICS (5-6) at PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (6-4)

Regular season game 12, 

Xfinity Mobile Arena, 8 p.m. - NBC Sports Boston, NBC, Peacock

SCHEDULE ADVANTAGE: Boston. This is Philadelphia’s third game in four nights. Side note: This is already the third meeting between these teams. They don't face each other again until March.

INJURIES

Boston: Jayson Tatum (OUT-Achilles)

Philadelphia: Joel Embiid (OUT-knee), Paul George (OUT-knee), Dominick Barlowe (OUT-elbow laceration), Johni Broome (OUT-ankle)

OFFICIALS

James Williams (#60)    Brian Forte (#45)    Jenna Reneau (#93)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Uptempo pace: The Sixers are a different team without Embiid. The Tyrese Maxey-led Sixers love to get up and down the floor, share the ball, and get shots up. Kelly Oubre tends to be a big beneficiary of this style of play, so the Celtics will have to pay close attention to him. This could become a bit of a shootout. 

2. Rebounding: The Celtics beat the Sixers the last time out partly because Barlowe wasn’t there to kill them on the boards. He’s still out, so the Celtics might be able to hold the Sixers off and get out in transition themselves. 

3. Bench roulette: Everyone is on the Jordan Walsh train right now, which, if form holds this season, someone completely different will step up tonight to lead Boston off the bench. Watch Chris Boucher step in randomly and have a big night. 

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.