Celtics to face Philadelphia 76ers in first round of NBA playoffs

Game 1 between the Celtics and Sixers will tip off on Sunday afternoon.

Derrick White and the Celtics will battle the Sixers over the next two weeks. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

The Boston Celtics finally know who they’ll face in the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs.

Boston will battle the Philadelphia 76ers in its opening playoff series, with the Sixers earning a trip up to Boston after defeating the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Play-in Tournament on Wednesday night.

Philly — the No. 7 seed — beat the eighth-seeded Magic, 109-97, at Xfinity Mobile Arena, with Tyrese Maxey leading the way with 31 points off of 11-for-25 shooting.

Game 1 between Boston and Philadelphia is set for Sunday, April 19 — with tip-off from TD Garden set for 1 p.m.

This is far from the first time that the Celtics and Sixers have met in the postseason, with this first-round showdown making the 23rd playoff series between the two franchises.

Boston has had the better of the Sixers as of late in the postseason — winning each of the last six head-to-head bouts going back to the 1985 Eastern Conference Finals.

Boston and Philly last met in the 2023 Eastern Conference Semifinals — with the Celtics rallying back from a 3-2 series deficit and defeating the 76ers in seven games.

Boston went 2-2 against the Sixers during the regular season, although both of those losses came before Jayson Tatum returned to the lineup in March following an extended recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

The Sixers — who enter the first round with a 45-37 record — boast one of the top scorers in the league in Maxey, who ranks fifth in the NBA at 28.3 points per game.

But Philly is also going to be without veteran center and former MVP Joel Embiid for at least the start of this series — as the 32-year-old big man underwent a successful appendectomy last Thursday. There is no set timeline for his return to the court.

Here’s a look at Boston’s full first-round schedule against the Sixers:

Game 1: Sunday, April 19. 1 p.m. TD Garden, Boston. Televised on ABC.
Game 2: Tuesday, April 21. 7 p.m. TD Garden, Boston. Streaming on Peacock.
Game 3: Friday, April 24. 7 p.m. @ Philadelphia. Streaming on Prime Video.
Game 4: Sunday, April 26. 7 p.m. @ Philadelphia. Televised on NBC and streaming on Peacock.
Game 5 (if necessary): Tuesday, April 28. Time TBD. TD Garden, Boston. TV network TBD.
Game 6 (if necessary): Thursday, April 30. Time TBD. @ Philadelphia. TV network TBD.
Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, May 2. Time TBD. TD Garden. TV network TBD.

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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