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Celtics-76ers Preview

Mar 4, 2010 - 9:37 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Boston (38-21) at Philadelphia (22-38), 7:00 p.m. EDT

They haven't been as dominant at home as in the past two seasons, but the Boston Celtics are enjoying plenty of success on the road.

The Celtics will try to win their sixth straight in Philadelphia and hand the 76ers a fifth consecutive loss Friday night.

Boston (38-21) improved to 17-11 at home with Wednesday's 104-80 win over Charlotte, but the two-time defending Atlantic Division champions won't come close to the 35-6 mark they posted at TD Garden in 2007-08 and last season.

The Celtics, though, have won four of five away from home and are 21-10 in road games. Only Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland is better at 22-10.

"If we just played a little better at home, we probably would have the best record in the league from the way we have been playing on the road," Paul Pierce said Wednesday after hitting four 3-pointers and scoring 27 points in his second game back after missing three with a sprained right thumb.

Pierce and the Celtics return to the Wachovia Center for the first time since a 105-74 victory Nov. 3. Pierce led Boston with 21 points and Rasheed Wallace, a Philadelphia native, hit a season-high six 3s and scored 20 in the Celtics' the most lopsided road win over the 76ers since a 32-point victory March 24, 1995. Boston has scored at least 100 points in winning its last five games at the Wachovia Center.

Boston won 113-110 on Nov. 25 for its sixth straight victory over Philadelphia (22-38) before falling to the visiting 76ers 98-97 on Dec. 18. Elton Brand's tip-in with 7.7 seconds left capped a 15-point second-half rally and snapped the Celtics' season-high 11-game winning streak.

Brand, though, is questionable Friday after missing the last two games with tendinitis in his right Achilles'. Without the former No. 1 overall pick, Philadelphia was overmatched in a 112-93 loss at Atlanta on Wednesday, getting outrebounded 47-32.

Boston, though, is last in the NBA with 38.8 rebounds per game.

With Allen Iverson out for the season to take care of family matters, Louis Williams will continue to start for the 76ers. He hit his first 10 shots and scored 30 against the Hawks, giving him a 20.8 average in five games since rejoining the starting lineup.

"It's not individual victories when you lose," Williams said. "The points I scored don't really mean a lot because we lost."

Williams had seven points in the Nov. 3 loss to Boston but missed the last two in this divisional matchup with a broken jaw.

Williams and the 76ers will get their first look at Nate Robinson in a Celtics uniform. Acquired from New York on Feb. 18, Robinson is averaging 14.3 points in the last three games while hitting nine of 16 from 3-point range.

"He's our X-factor in a lot of ways," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I don't know if we need him to play great to win, but I know when he plays great that it's tough for us to lose."

Having Pierce in the lineup also helps. Boston dropped two of three last week without the eight-time All-Star, but is 2-0 since his return.

The Celtics will try to win the season series versus Philadelphia for the third straight season.