After Monday night’s Game 1, many people are high on the Boston Celtics winning their second-round NBA playoff series with the Philadelphia 76ers.
One former Celtics All-Star isn’t seeing it that way.
Not only does Antoine Walker expect the 76ers to advance to the Eastern Conference finals, he doesn’t believe Boston will win another game in the series.
During Tuesday’s edition of “First Things First” on FOX Sports 1, Walker laid out his explanation for Philadelphia winning the next four games, and his reasoning isn’t exactly fool-proof.
“Philly will win this in five,” Walker said. “They’ll get this done in five. I just think this was a wake-up call for them. They’re more talented, they can shoot the 3-ball. They don’t have to hit the threes to win. You can’t give Joel Embiid 30 points and think you’re going to win. They’re not going to lose too many games like that. And they’re not going to shoot as bad from the 3-point line as they did. I think Jaylen Brown is too hurt. When he does come back he’s not going to be 100 percent. I don’t think they have enough.”
Walker continued: “They (Celtics) made shots last night, they fed off the energy from Game 7. Now Philly has two days to prepare, and they’re going to make the proper adjustments. Boston can’t win in Philly. Philly is one of those places that’s just like Boston that it’s very tough to play, the fans are gonna be on you and they play great in that building. They’re starting to get that crowd like Golden State had a couple years ago where it was just an intimidating place to play. I like Philly to win the next four games.”
For starters, whose to say Embiid will score 30 points every game? While Walker notes that the 76ers will make adjustments in wake of Game 1, he failed to acknowledge that the Celtics, of course, will do the same. And after scoring 31 points in Game 1, Embiid likely will be the focal point of Brad Stevens’ defensive game plan.
Additionally, it seems a bit foolish to totally count Boston out of winning a game in Philadelphia considering the series hasn’t even shifted there yet. If there’s a claim to be made, it probably should be that the Sixers have yet to prove they can win a playoff game in Boston.
There’s a lot to be excited about with this 76ers team, but Walker probably should ease up a bit on his lofty prediction.
