Philadelphia 76ers Eye Sixth Straight Win Against Eastern Conference-Leading Boston Celtics

Joel Embiid and James Harden will try to stretch their winning run to six games. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

KEY POINTS

The Boston Celtics will try to sustain their winning ways and snap the Sixers' five-game winning run
Boston will try to keep its clean slate in its regular season series showdown with the Sixers
Tatum and Embiid are expected to start for the Celtics and the Sixers, respectively

The Philadelphia 76ers will try to extend their winning streak to six games when they host the league-leading Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Center Saturday.

Aside from that, the Sixers will be looking to slice the regular season series of the Cs. The two clubs have already met twice this season, with the Celtics winning on both occasions.

The Sixers' last win came Thursday when they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 110-105.

Despite being under the weather, Joel Embiid still came up with a good performance to pull off the win.

The Cameroonian All-Star finished with 27 points, 19 rebounds and six assists in that victory. Leading the way was James Harden, who ended up with 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

"If you took away his offense, what else did he do?" coach Doc Rivers said with a laugh Thursday, according to ESPN.

"That tells you just how great the guy is," the one-time NBA champion coach added.

However, facing a team like Boston may require more effort on the part of Philly. Boston is faring well on both ends of the court, meaning Embiid, Harden and the rest need to bring their A-game on Saturday.

One problem for Rivers is Jayson Tatum, one of the prime offensive weapons of the Celtics.

In their Thursday win against the Indiana Pacers, 142-138, Tatum finished with a double-double performance of 31 points and 12 rebounds. Backing him up was Jaylen Brown, who had 30 points and 11 rebounds.

"I'm glad we won," Tatum was quoted as saying by ESPN Thursday. "I just tried to find ways to make plays on both ends so we could win and everybody could feel better about themselves."

The Celtics are expected to rely on their offensive prowess anew. They are third in the league in team points scored per game, averaging 118.3 points per contest. They own an offensive rating of 117.2, also third in the NBA.

The Celtics are also faring well on defense, limiting opponents to 112.2 points per outing which is seventh in the league. Their defensive rating is 111.6, seventh in the NBA.

The Celtics open as slight favorites (-1) over the Sixers, which are at +1, according to USA Today's For The Win. The Moneyline for this encounter is -120 for Boston and+100 for Philadelphia.

The Celtics and the Sixers get ready for battle with tip-off set for 8:30 p.m. EST Saturday. The game will be televised via ABC, with live streaming available through FuboTV.