Multiple Sixers give initial thoughts on facing Celtics in Round 1

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers are officially back in the playoffs following a 109-97 win over the Orlando Magic in the play-in tournament on Wednesday. The win clinched the No. 7 seed for Philadelphia as it will now advance to face the No. 2 seed, Boston Celtics.

This is an opponent the Sixers are, obviously, familiar with. This will be the fourth time the Atlanta division rivals face off in the playoffs in the last decade with the Celtics winning the previous three playoff matchups.

The Sixers know what they're up against. This is not going to be a walk in the park. They are the underdog for a reason, but they are not going to back down. Philadelphia has built a mental toughness and an edge for moments like this one and will look to make some noise.

"Looking forward to it," said Andre Drummond after the win over the Magic. "Obviously, they're a tough challenge, but I’ve said this before. We have enough guys in this locker room to help us win basketball games. I'm not scared. I'm not worried. I know we're prepared and we're gonna give it our best shot."

The Celtics have some new pieces after a busy 2025 offseason, but this is still the same core of players that won a championship in 2024. Jayson Tatum has made an incredible return from an Achilles injury in the 2025 playoffs and was able to play in 16 regular season games before the playoffs.

"We’re playing against winners," said Paul George. "We're playing against champions. This is where they play their best basketball. So we respect that. We‘re gonna have to challenge that, but you know they've been great for a couple years now. They're a well-oiled machine over there. Great coach, great roster, two studs, superstars over there, and just a ton of just guys that just know how to play the right way. So it's gonna be a challenge. We just gotta be ready for it."

The Sixers split the season series with Boston 2-2, but three of those matchups came in the season's first 11 games before the Celtics found their groove. Philadelphia also never saw Tatum after his return.

"A really good team," added VJ Edgecombe. "They just added Tatum back. We haven't seen them with Tatum, but obviously they're a really good team. I think we split the series this year. We just gotta just go out and play hard every night. They're well coached. Obviously, they got a lot of shooters, a lot of great players. We just got to be ready for any adversity that's going to come around."