There’s no reason why the Celtics shouldn’t sweep their rare Friday-Saturday home slate this weekend as they’ll be facing two of the worst teams in pro basketball. Philadelphia, which owns a 9-24 record, will be at the Garden Friday (7:30 p.m., CSNNE) and New Orleans, which owns a 14-22 record, will be in the house on Saturday (7:30 p.m., CSNNE). Despite the less-than-stellar competition, there are several interesting players and storylines to watch this weekend.
Joel Embiid
Celtics fans will get their first real glimpse of Embiid, who has taken the league by storm in his (technically) rookie year. In the C’s first pre-season game way back on Oct. 4, Embiid whet everyone’s appetite when he scored six points and pulled down four rebounds in just 13 minutes of play. Since then, his numbers have skyrocketed and it’s easy to see why he was the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. He poured in 33 points against the Nets on Dec. 18 and since then he’s had four games in which he’s scored more than 23 points, proving that the Brooklyn outburst was no fluke. Embiid is the main man who could re-ignite a Celtics-76ers rivalry that’s been dead for decades.
Anthony Davis
Davis is another high draft choice who has panned out, as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft fills up a stat sheet with ease. The Brow is averaging 28.9 points and 11.8 rebounds per game this season and single-handedly led the Pelicans to a four game win streak to close out December. Jae Crowder
Expect the Garden fans to shower Crowder with love this weekend and cheer him every time he touches the ball. Don’t do it too much though Celtics fans – he might think you’re mocking him. So sensitive for a guy who looks like he could bench press Isaiah Thomas 12 times.
Celtics with extremely intriguing weekend ahead
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