5. The Celtics’ Depth

There was an effort by the Philadelphia 76ers to add more perimeter depth before the NBA trade deadline passed. They pulled off a deal with the Golden State Warriors for Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III but the Boston Celtics remain a deeper squad.

Starting the playoffs without Ben Simmons will cause the 76ers to take a hit in the depth department, but they already were outmatched in this area in comparison to the Celtics aside from the center position.

The 76ers have chosen to embrace Shake Milton at point guard and that’s a real disadvantage when stacked up with Kemba Walker. In addition, the Celtics have Marcus Smart coming off the bench while Philadelphia could involve Raul Neto.

The option for the Celtics to stagger the minutes of their wing players affords them with added depth. It will be difficult for the 76ers to combat this, especially when their bench personnel finds their way onto the floor throughout games.

Both teams have four active players averaging at least 14 points per game this season, so they do each have depth in their scoring hierarchy. However, Simmons being out gives the edge to the Celtics