76ers–Celtics rivalry 76ers–Celtics rivalry The 76ers–Celtics rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics. The two teams have the most meetings in the NBA playoffs, playing each other in 21 series, with the Celtics winning 13 of them. The 76ers are considered to be the Celtics' second greatest rival, after the Los Angeles Lakers. The Syracuse Nationals and Boston Celtics played in the Eastern Division in the 1950s. The Nationals beat the Celtics in three straight playoff series in 1954, 1955, and 1956, winning the NBA Championship in 1955. After the 1956 season the
Boston Celtics team. FIBA, the body which governs international basketball, has selected two players associated with the Celtics to the FIBA Hall of Fame for contributions to international basketball. The Celtics hold the draft rights to the following unsigned draft picks who have been playing outside the NBA. A drafted player is ostensibly either an international draftee or a college draftee who is not signed by the team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA teams. In this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA