Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics


Get ready for some exciting NLL basketball, folks! This one features two of the BEST teams in the Eastern Conference battling for the right to move on to the NBA FINALS and a chance to engrave their names in history!!

The major headline from Philly is that they are the #1 seeded team in the entire league and have been on a mission to slaughter every opponent in front of them to go and get that NLL ring they couldn´t get last year. Boston is justo n cloud 9 right now, since this is one of the best succesful season in the history of the franchise and they have beaten some serious teams on their way to the ECF. GM Jmac will have to walk the walk and prove he belongs in the NLL Finals, you´re up kid! Oh, and there is a bit of a rivalry between these two teams ever since they started switching places for #1 and #2 in the East and the league. Time to see who´s really got it, boys! Game on!

First we will take a look at a quick overview of what each team brings to the table as of the beginning of this preview and then we'll dive into the head-to-head match-up analysis.

Philadelphia 76ers Overview:

Philly comes to this one at 100% strength, with no major blows in an absolutely LOADED team!
The 76ers feature one of the most well rounded teams with all-star level players in nearly every position and come into this one as the best rated team in the NLL, they boast a scoring-minded point guard running the show in the talented Damian Lillard, probably the most improved player in CJ2K, a two-way stud in Kawhi Leonard and a 3-Big men rotation that is probably up there as well with the best of the beast.
Their bench is one of the best in the league and after some great moves by GM VT, this team looks set for the battle against any opponent that comes in their way.

Boston Celtics Overview:

The Celtics are going full speed ahead! They have a complete bench and starting lineup, with no major blows to the structure of the squad now that Taj Gibson is back on board. 
Probably the team with the longest wingspan in the entire league by a milewith Vucevic, Horford, KD and Ariza. The Celtics feature long, crafty athletes in every position but PG and will look to take full advantage of that to try and steal this one away from the higher seeded Sixers.
Nik Vucevic is the flourishing all around player at the Center position, Kevin Durant is probably was the longest basketball freak of nature this league had ever seen before Giannis came into town, but he is still as tall as most NBA centers and can play even some SG as he did at times during the season, which is crazy if you stop to think about it. The Celtics revolve around this amazing player and it is up to the coaching staff top ut him in position to be successful.


                                                   Head-to-Head Match-ups: 


Pau Gasol vs. Nikola Vucevic 

Old school vs. New school, but both aren´t really worlds apart as far as their games goes. While Gasol in his prime had more offensive tools to work with than Vucevic, Gasol was never this Strong and balanced when playing. Gasol is the more athletic one despite his age, since 2k doesn´t seem to recognize that, and Vucevic makes his living on the boards and with na effective offensive game. Unfortunately for Vuc, Gasol ranks at the top of his position for most measured categories, so he has to take the edge here, but it a close one.

Edge: PHI

LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Al Horford 

Simply one of the best big men in the entire NLL. Skill, IQ, polish, offense, touch, leadership, versatility. All words that could be used to describe either one of those athletes right there. They can play the 5 or the 4 seamlessly, have great length and na offensive array of moves. While Horford is the best all-around player, LMA has more nuclear power to take over games. This one had to be tied, but I´ll give a slight edge to Philly due to his friendly NLL game.

Edge: PHI

Kawhi Leonard vs. Trevor Ariza

Ariza is the classic , 3-and-D type of player that is there to do the little things the team needs in order to be successful. The thing is on the other side is Leonard which might be tied for the best 2-way player in the league and is certainly the holder of the best defensive player in the NBA. He poses all kinds of matchup problems with his length and has the speed of a quick guard. Ariza will have his hands full in this one. Something tells me KD was slotted at SG to try and stay away from Leonard, so in the end, Jmac already has great respect for Kawhi.

Edge: PHI


C.J. McCollum vs. Kevin Durant

The most gifted scorer over 6-10 the league has ever seen. That is probably accurate, right? KD is a weapon this league has to respect versus a trigger-happy guard that has the green light to let it fly from anywhere, anytime. This looks to be exciting! Nobody really likes to play much defense, however KD´s length will pose all kinds of trouble for CJ2K to maneuver on the perimeter.
In the end, CJ might be too tired from defending to score any points of his own, but we doubt that. KD has the upper hand though, because he is unstoppable at his best.

Edge: BOS


Damian Lillard vs. Ty Lawson

Lillard is such a talented scorer and so underrated as a leader of this team. He has so many moves on the offensive end as is as clutch as they come in every way a PG needs to be. He is an all-around player and has been from Day 1. We know Lillard will have his team ready come Game 1! Lawson was brought in amidst turmoil in his life earlier in the year and has perfomed admirably despite being benched a coupled of times. He plays the role of game manager and his job is to make sure every mouth gets fed. His job will be that and more as he has to stop Lillard from dominating the game with his tenacity and that is a hard job to do.

Lawson might be the x-factor nobody is talking about as he might hold the fate of the Celtics. His level of effectiveness will set the tone for his team.