Celtics at 76ers
After Mother Nature pushed things back a day, the Boston Celtics will look to maintain their recent dominance of the Philadelphia 76ers when the teams meet Sunday in the snowy City of Brotherly Love. Winter Storm Jonas was expected to dump over a foot of snow in Philadelphia over the weekend before tapering off late Saturday, forcing the league to move the game to Sunday.
That gave the Celtics a little more time to rest following Friday's 110-101 win at home against Chicago, their fourth victory in six games following a 1-6 stretch. Isaiah Thomas continued his push for an All-Star Game nod with 22 points for Boston, which has won six straight meetings with the 76ers, including two this season at home. The second of those two triumphs gave Philadelphia an 0-16 mark, but the last-place team has been a bit more competitive of late and is coming off a 96-87 win at Orlando on Wednesday for its first victory against an Eastern Conference team in 26 tries. The 76ers are 5-8 in their last 13 games and their last two losses have come in overtime.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE CELTICS (23-21): Boston has given up at least 101 points in eight of its last nine games but it was solid down the stretch against Chicago, limiting the Bulls to 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting in the fourth quarter. "We were guarding, that was pretty clear," coach Brad Stevens told reporters. "Usually when you guard, you're locked and you're engaged, good things can happen offensively." While Thomas stayed hot, fellow starting guard Avery Bradley finished with 21 points for his best output since Dec. 12.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (6-38): Rookie Jahlil Okafor is emerging as a more consistent offensive threat for Philadelphia and reached the 20-point mark for the third straight time in the win over the Magic. He has shot better than 50 percent in nine of 10 games this month after shooting 44.5 percent in December. Fellow big man Nerlens Noel left Wednesday's game with a migraine headache but has been cleared to return for this one, while the status of guard JaKarr Sampson - who also left the contest with a hip issue - is uncertain.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thomas is averaging 28.5 points and 6.5 assists against the Sixers this season.
2. Philadelphia PG Ish Smith has two straight double-doubles and five in 13 games since being acquired from New Orleans.
3. Celtics PF Amir Johnson missed Friday's game due to personal reasons and is expected to return to the lineup.