By The Celtics might be perched atop the NBA after capturing their sought-after 18th championship last month, but Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey doesn’t believe the gap is that wide between his team and the reigning champions. While the Celtics and 76ers have rekindled their rivalry over the last few seasons, it’s largely fallen in Boston’s favor. The Celtics have won their last six postseason series against Philly, including three straight series victories (2018, 2020, 2023) since the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era began.
Despite establishing themselves as one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference since the emergence of Joel Embiid as a superstar talent, the 76ers have not advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals since 2001. Still, Morey expressed plenty of confidence in his team’s chances of toppling the Celtics during the upcoming 2024-25 season. “I’m a big objective data guy.
We’re right there in the conversation with a very small number of teams — top two, three or four, somewhere in there,” Morey said in a radio interview on 97.5 The Fanatic earlier this week. Obviously, you have to give the Celtics their credit.
They won the title. They’re an excellent team. “They’ve brought everybody back.
They’re the target, but we don’t feel like we give up anything to them. We are going to be coming to take the title away from them.” "We are going to be coming to take the title away from them (The Celtics)" -Daryl Morey when he joined earlier this week.
To Morey’s credit, the Sixers — much like the Knicks — have been busy this offseason in an attempt to even the playing field against a stacked Boston roster. Beyond re-upping All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey on a five-year, $204 million extension, the Sixers went out and added a third star to their roster in Paul George — signing him to a four-year, $212 million contract. Add in other free-agent pickups like Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon, and the Sixers should be a more formidable opponent next season.
Still, the Celtics are set to return just about their entire roster from last year’s championship-winning campaign, and the case can be made that both Tatum (26 years old) and Brown (27) still have even more room to grow. Morey is far from the only Sixer who has stoked the flames of the Boston-Philly rivalry over the last few days. Speaking earlier this week, Embiid took a shot at Tatum and the luxury that he has playing on such a loaded roster.
“If I go 5 for 20, we get blown out,” Embiid said when asked of the slim margin for error he has on the Sixers when compared to Tatum and the Celtics. “He’s got a super team. You know what I mean? If I had a super team too, I would win too,” Hanlen added.
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