This has been an interesting year for the NBA. King James set a record for most points by a player only a couple of weeks ago, and Damian Lillard took center stage on February 26. The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets as Lillard put up 71 points and 13 3-pointers. He’s now the oldest NBA player to achieve the feat, which may have been a prelude to the action set to come this week.

76ers Take On The Heat

Recently, the Miami Heat have struggled to win games, losing six out of nine contests in recent weeks. Especially on the road, they lost to the Charlotte Hornets, 108-103, which was a tough one for them. Aside from Tyler Herro’s 33 points and seven rebounds, Jimmy Butler tallied 28 points and six assists, while Kevin Love dribbled down the court for 13 points and 13 rebounds.

It has been a good run for the Philadelphia 76ers, as they’ve taken seven of their last 10. Unfortunately, they lost a devastating 110-107 contest against the Boston Celtics last Saturday.

In his performance, Joel Embiid scored 41 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. As for James Harden, he scored 21 points and eight assists, while Tobias Harris tallied 19 points on eight of the 12 shots he attempted.

Despite having a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the 76ers almost managed to come back from it but ultimately slipped away. Jayson Tatum hit the game-winning shot with almost no time on the clock.  

The Heat and Sixers now go at it tonight, but Miami could be without Herro and Kyle Lowry. While both teams are desperate to start strong, Philadelphia gets the game tonight.

The Celtics Might Have Trouble

It was a dominating game from start to finish for the New York Knicks (35-27) on Saturday night. They controlled the New Orleans Pelicans (33-27) the entire time and won their fifth consecutive game. However, they’ll have a tougher test tonight against the Boston Celtics (44-17), who are the top seed in the East Conference.

There is a 1-1 tie between the Knicks and the Celtics in the series, and the Knicks won the last matchup 120-117 in OT on January 27. Boston is going to be ready tonight.

In addition to being the sixth-best offense in the league and the 14th-best defense, it’s no secret that these Knicks are a different breed this year. They’re picking up 114.8 points per game on average off 46.2% shooting. At the same time, though, the Celtics have repeatedly taken out all Eastern Conference rivals, winning 27 of the 39 matchups.  

This will undoubtedly be a tough game on both sides of the ball, and the Knicks are desperate for a win. They’re likely going to find it, too, just edging out the Celtics like they’ve done before.