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Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics Live NBA Preseason Updates, Scores and Highlights

Dan FavaleOct 16, 2026, updated 12 min ago

The Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics are both wrapping up their respective preseasons against one another on Friday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. But while this matchup brings an end to games that don't count toward the standings, it marks the beginning of a rivalry between Jaylen Brown and his former team.

All of the Sixers' starters are expected to play. After Brown missed the Boston-Philly meeting in Beantown last Saturday, this will be the first time he goes head-to-head with the Celtics since they traded him.

Must-see matchups are hard to come by in the preseason. This is officially one of the exceptions. Here are a few other things we'll be watching for:

  • Jaylen Brown vs. the Celtics: We know Boston is giving most of its primary guys the night off. But could we still be in for an emotional slam from Brown? Or perhaps we'll get a stare-down toward the bench?
  • What does the Sixers' starting "four" look like? The preseason will end with Philly having played its entire starting five only once. Brown, LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid are all expected to play, but VJ Edgecombe is out. We are obligated to overreact accordingly.
  • Is Joe Mazzulla yanking our chain? If preseason is any indication, Jordan Walsh will be the Celtics' fifth starter this year. But Mazzulla's fivesome to open games in 2025-26 famously didn't play a single possession during the 2025 preseason. Can we get any clarity on what he's thinking during this game?
  • Dual-bigs anyone? This one's out of the question for the Sixers. They are hard-up for bigs even with Embiid available. The Celtics, however, played a beat with Mitchell Robinson and Neemias Queta in the frontcourt during their last game against the skeleton-crew Sixers. Will they test that out again, and will it be as effective as it was the first time?

Do your sanity a favor and extricate yourself from the chokehold of the almighty algorithm by following this game along with us right here.

Live Updates

4 Total Posts

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Gets the Start for Philadelphia

KCP's starting nod is good data collection for how head coach Nick Nurse might handle absences during the regular season.

Rolling with him tonight makes sense given VJ Edgecombe's importance to the front of the defense. It'll be interesting to see whether he or a healthy Dean Wade gets the go-ahead when it's LeBron (or Jaylen Brown) out of the lineup instead.

The Celtics are Going Full Preseason Mode

All the imaginary bonus points ever go to anyone who can identify more than two of these players without seeing the names on the back of their jerseys.

We Won't See the Sixers' Full Starting 5 Again Until the Regular Season

This would have marked just the second time Philly fielded its entire starting five. But after playing in all three of the Sixers' other three preseason tilts, VJ Edgecombe is getting the night off.

Although his absence is a bummer, his fit with the core fivesome remains the simplest. He has shown a willingness to cut, get out in transition, shoot off the catch and defend no matter who's on the floor.

If any wrinkles need to be ironed out, it's with the LeBron-Brown-Embiid trio. Balancing that could get finicky for stretches. For our sake, it at least gives us plenty to continue monitoring throughout this one.

The Celtics are Already Throwing a Wrench in the Fun

So much for getting our first glimpse of Jaylen Brown vs. Jayson Tatum.

While the Sixers will be at close to full strength through the first half, it looks like the Celtics will be giving their non-core players a lion's share of the run. That puts a bit of a damper on Brown facing his former team, but it's still our first glimpse of him going up against at least some previous running mates.

Giannis' Near Triple-Double ๐ŸŽฎ