The Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics meet Sunday in NBA preseason action at the TD Garden. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

Philadelphia 76ers Betting Preview

The Philadelphia 76ers won 54 games last season but fell short in the playoffs, so they now begin the Nick Nurse era. Outside of the coaching change, the 76ers didn’t make any splashy moves as they clearly believe in the core of Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid. The addition of Patrick Beverley brings toughness and defense off the bench, and Mo Bamba could be useful in a backup big man role. The recent signing of Kelly Oubre Jr. is a nice under the radar move. The elephant in the room is James Harden, who has demanded yet another trade, but for the moment isn’t getting his wish granted. That’s something to watch. The 76ers are contenders in the East, but things could go south quickly if they don’t play their cards right.

Boston Celtics Betting Preview

The Boston Celtics won 57 games last year and enter the second season under coach Joe Mazzulla. After knocking on the title door in 3 of the last 4 years, the Celtics shook things up. Malcolm Brogdon, Grant Williams, Robert Williams and Marcus Smart are gone. The Celtics bring in Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. Interesting moves to say the least, as the Celtics lose a lot of depth and defense, and they’re banking on the health of KP and a 37-year-old Al Horford. The Celtics front court could be an issue defensively, and Holiday does go through funks at times on the offensive end. It doesn’t get much better than a Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown duo, but you have to question if the Celtics outsmarted themselves this offseason.

Trends

The 76ers are 10-4 ATS in their last 14 Sunday games and 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 road games. The Celtics are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The under is 5-2 in 76ers last 7 Sunday games. The under is 4-0 in Celtics last 4 overall. The 76ers are 3-9 ATS in the last 12 meetings.

Randy’s Free Pick

The Boston Celtics are the better team on paper, but they have a lot of new pieces they have to work into the rotation, and it could take time. The Philadelphia 76ers are a little more set in stone with their rotation outside of the Harden saga, and we should see a little more consistency out the gate. Also, these teams don’t like each other, so I don’t expect the 76ers to completely roll over preseason or not. Give me the points.