Evan Turner is not in the NBA anymore, but he came out with a take about what would happen if the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics match up in the NBA Playoffs.
“I'm taking Celtics every single day, and twice on Sundays,” Evan Turner said. “I think, with this history I just think Boston Celtics have their number. I think they just have their number. Besides the fact that I the Celtics top eight better than the Sixers top eight. The way Embiid's been playing this year you have to take into consideration something occurring, but Jayson Tatum he's been through this a lot. That team's been playing hella defense. At the same time, Marcus Smart, if he has to shut down Embiid maybe he can do it, he's done it before.”
The 76ers and Celtics have played three times this season, with Boston winning all three of them. However, they were all relatively close games. The first game took place on Oct. 18 in Boston, with the Celtics winning 126-117. The second was on Feb. 8 in Boston, with the Celtics winning 106-99. The third was on Feb. 25 in Philadelphia with Boston winning 110-107.
Turner believes Marcus Smart can shut down, or at least play good enough defense on Joel Embiid for the Celtics to win. Joel Embiid scored 26, 28 and 41 points respectively in the three games they have played this year, averaging 31.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists, according to Statmuse.
Evan Turner played for both of these teams, spending four seasons with the 76ers and two seasons with the Celtics. He believes that Jayson Tatum and Smart can take down Embiid.