In their continuing quest to regain the NBA title, the Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics take on the Philadelphia 76ers at home Wednesday night.

At 5-9, the Sixers rank third in the Atlantic Division, five games behind the first place Celtics.

Paul and the Cs have won five straight against Philadelphia, but they've lost three of their last five this season and haven't been on a winning streak since November 11. Another big win against the Sixers could do No. 34 and Co. a lot of good.

Boston defeated Philadelphia in all four of their matchups last season, but their last meeting on November 3rd was a blowout by all definitions. The Captain posted a game-high 21 points with eight rebounds and four assists to beat the 76ers 105-74.

No. 34 was essential in acquiring the win against Philly on the road, but coming off the bench and contributing big was Rasheed Wallace, who scored 20 points, including six threes. Eddie House produced four triples off the pine for all 12 of his points.

Sheed and Eddie provided some necessary relief for the starters who were in dire need of rest. The Boston Globe reported:

“They take a lot of pressure off us,” Paul Pierce said. “We saw it early, the potential of our bench. Hopefully, they’ll continue to do the things to make them play great.

But the team that stomped Philly in the fifth of six straight wins to start the season was a very different Celtics team as a WEEI.com blogger wrote:

Of late, the Celtics have seemingly lost some of the swagger that they displayed during a 6-0 start. After dropping two straight to the Hawks and Pacers, Boston seemed to get back on track against Golden State in what was a pretty convincing win. But another slip-up against the Magic and an overtime buzzer-beating win against the 3-10 Knicks have made it appear that the Celtics are not in sync.

The question is which Boston team will show up against Philadelphia, the sizzling Celtics from the early part of the season or the struggling Cs of late? A CBS Sports.com reporter provides an assessment:

If the Celtics can still improve, that would be ominous news for the Sixers (5-9). Boston has beaten Philadelphia five straight times, including a 105-74 romp at the Wachovia Center on Nov. 3 that remains the Sixers’ most lopsided defeat of the season. The Celtics shot 56.9 percent in that contest, and have scored at least 100 points in each game of the streak while holding Philadelphia below the century mark each time.

Either way, the Celts stand a good chance of securing a win against Philly as the Sixers have two key players out with injuries, Elton Brand with a hamstring and Marreese Speights with a knee injury.

Nonetheless, the Cs need to keep an eye out for Sixers’ small forward Andre Iguodala. Iguodala averaged 17 points a game against Boston in previous matchups.

TUNE IN
Tip-off is scheduled for at 7:30pm at the Garden and the game can be seen on CSNHD/WEEI.

RELATED STORIES
Celtics keep the beat going by thrashing Sixers (Boston Globe, November 4, 2009)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/11/04/celt...
Celtics vs. 76ers (CBS Sports, Nov. 25, 2009)
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gamecenter/preview/NBA_20091125_PHI@BOS/ers...
Celtics-76ers Preview (WEEI.com, Nov. 25, 2009)
http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2009/11/24/...

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