Celtics at 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers once again take aim at notching their first victory of the season when they host the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. Philadelphia lost 100-75 to San Antonio Spurs on Monday for its 10th straight loss, moving closer towards the dubious franchise-record start of 0-15 set by the 1972-73 squad. The 76ers will receive some opportunities to land a win as six of their next seven games are at home.
The Celtics have lost three straight games after falling to Phoenix on Monday despite receiving 28 points from Jeff Green. Boston is struggling on the defensive end and gave up an average of 116.3 points while losing to Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Phoenix, all at home. “We’re not there yet and that’s frustrating,” second-year Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE CELTICS (3-6): Reserve center Tyler Zeller has been surprisingly good and had 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go with seven rebounds in the loss to Phoenix. Zeller has made 25-of-29 shots from the field – a sizzling 86.2 percent – while seeing his minutes rise in correspondence with his production. “You have to be ready to play at any time and make the best out of whatever you get,” Zeller told reporters. “That’s what I’m trying to do. So whenever Coach puts me in, I just try to go do whatever I can.”
ABOUT THE 76ERS (0-10): Philadelphia players continue to insist their attitudes are good and feel they are close to getting that elusive first win. “I don’t think that the losses are getting to us,” guard Tony Wroten said. “We’ve played well in a few games. A few turnovers here, a few bad decisions there – we’re not far away from where we want to be.” The 76ers are averaging a league-low 88.5 points and are losing by an average margin of 16.9.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The 76ers went 3-1 against Boston last season and have won seven of the past 11 meetings.
2. Celtics PG Rajon Rondo is shooting just 30 percent from the free-throw line after going 2-of-10 against Phoenix.
3. Philadelphia has scored an average of 80 points over its last four games.