The Boston Celtics won the opener of this Eastern Conference best-of-seven playoffs series 109-101 on Monday without even playing all that great.

The Sixers bench outscored Boston's, but they lack outside threat without superstar Ben Simmons and the Celtics did a decent job containing Joel Embiid in the paint. While Boston can focus on shutting down Embiid, the Sixers have no such luxury as the C's have plenty of playmakers.

Tonight Boston will have to without Gordon Hayward (sprained ankle), and while he is at risk of missing the rest of the series I expect Boston's bench to up its game and pick up the slack.

Philly has now lost four of its last five games, and while only the most recent one really mattered it's certainly not a positive trend. The Celtics on the other hand are 5-1 in their last six and I'm happy to keep riding the hotter Celtics to win and cover tonight.

10* play on Boston Celtics.