A generation ago, when the two teams were conference rivals and Larry Bird traded blows — both literally and figuratively — with Julius Erving, the Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers hated each other. But it’s been 25 years, and those days are long gone.
Come Wednesday night, everyone in Boston will be a Sixers fan.
The C’s and the Miami Heat both took 3-0 leads in their first-round playoff series into Sunday afternoon. Both were one win away from advancing on their collision course for round two. The Celtics took care of business against the Knicks, but during the national anthem at Madison Square Garden, the Heat were busy collapsing down the stretch and losing in Philadelphia. They now lead 3-1.
The C’s are cool, collected, confident and enjoying a nice week of rest while they await the next round. The Heat are — well, in all likelihood, they’re distracted.
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have been anticipating a playoff showdown with the Celtics for a long while. Probably since the day they came together to hold that ridiculous pep rally at American Airlines Arena last July. The C’s are the beasts of the East until someone knocks them off, and the Heat have been waiting for their chance to do just that.
Now that series is close enough the Heat can taste it. But they’ve got to take care of business first, and against a Sixers team that’s dying to play spoiler.
This young ragtag Philly team is down but not out. They’ve got life — Andre Iguodala is putting up LeBron-like numbers in short spurts, Elton Brand is holding his own against Bosh, and the young guard duo of Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams has been unstoppable together.
Will the Sixers win this series? Almost certainly not. It would be the upset of the century, with all due respect to the 2007 Warriors (and perhaps the 2011 Grizzlies, who presently lead the Spurs 3-1). But the Sixers have a chance here to mess with the Heat a little bit.
They can tire them out. If they push this series to a sixth game or even a seventh, they’re sapping a lot of the energy from a Heat team that lacks depth.
They can shake their confidence. How will the Heat feel if it takes them seven games to escape the first round, if the Celtics rolled through in four?
They can expose a weakness or two. Every time Williams goes right at Wade for a bucket, or Brand takes Bosh out of the game with a hard elbow, the Heat begin looking a little more vulnerable.
The Celtics and Heat will almost inevitably meet in the playoffs. That’s been the idea all year long. But we’re not there yet, and until we are, the Celtics will be no doubt be pulling for the underdogs from Philly.
The Sixers visit the Heat for Game 5 at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Everyone in Boston should be watching.
