The NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals continue on Wednesday night as the Philadelphia 76ers take on the Boston Celtics. The visitors were able to pull off an impressive road win despite missing superstar center Joel Embiid. If they are able to do the same again tonight, it would make them heavy favourites to advance. After all, the series returns to Philadelphia for Game 3.
You can watch the action live on TNT tonight. Also be'sure to take a look at all of our sides and totals picks for the 76ers vs Celtics. But for now let’s get into my NBA first basket scorer selection below.
76ers vs Celtics first basket best bet: Tobias Harris (+1100)
With the status of Joel Embiid still not confirmed for tonight's game, we could once again see Paul Reed starting for the Philadelphia 76ers. He came up against Al Horford in Game 1 of the series and was able to gain the visitors the opening possession. The 2 centers are listed at the same height however Reed should have the athletic edge here. The 76ers center is 13 years younger than his matchup and should be more explosive jumping for the ball.
With the 76ers likely having the ball first, Tobias Harris looks to be a good value selection to score the first points. After Embiid, Harris has opened the scoring for his team and in the game overall more times than any other 76er this season. He has been efficient this postseason too. The forward is making 55.3% of his field goal attempts and 52.6% from beyond the arc. With his physical style of play, he could cause an issue for the likes of Jaylen Brown, who could have issues keeping him from getting to his spots here. The visitors have gone early to him this season and could do the same again in Game 2.