Tuesday is Jaden Springer’s first chance to face the Sixers since they dealt him to a rival, and Daryl Morey provided added fuel on his way to the Celtics.
Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics return to TD Garden for the first time since the All-Star break. Fresh off a 116-102 win against the New York Knicks, they’ll host the Philadelphia 76ers in a second straight rivalry clash.
It’ll be Jaden Springer’s first chance to play against his former team since they traded him to Boston at the deadline. On the heels of doing so, the Sixers’ president of basketball operations, Daryl Morey, stated, “Our evaluation was that his timetable to help a playoff team is farther out than what the second-round pick can do for us.”
Before a 110-106 Super Bowl Sunday victory vs. the Miami Heat, the 21-year-old from North Carolina responded, “I ain’t really worried about that too much,” the newest Celtic said. “I’m here now.”
The former Tennessee Volunteer also voiced of the start of his tenure with Boston, “Coming to a team like this, you can’t go wrong. Probably the best team in the league, a bunch of great guys, great organization, and so far I’m loving it here.”
And as the C’s aim to get their new teammate a win against his former squad, they’re also attempting to win their regular season series vs. their rivals from the City of Brotherly Love.
Boston is 2-1 against Philadelphia, with this representing the last time they’ll square off in the 2023-24 campaign unless they face each other in the playoffs again.
It helps that the Celtics are at full strength, with their first injury report ahead of Tuesday’s tilt being a clean sheet.
The hosts, 45-12, sit atop the NBA standings. The 76ers, 33-24, but 3-7 in their last ten games, have dropped to fifth in the Eastern Conference in the wake of Joel Embiid’s meniscus injury.