Report: Celtics to play Sixers in London

Steve Bulpett reports that the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are expected to participate in a regular season game in London on January 11. The matchup will function as an opportunity for both squads, and the league, to increase their footprints in the Europe. Per the Boston Herald:

According to involved sources, the Celts will meet the 76ers in London next January. The schedule for the coming season is expected to be released next month, with the league’s Global Games potentially being announced prior to that. The Celtics-Philadelphia matchup will be a regular season affair — not an exhibition — and will be a 76ers home game.

This comes as the second bit of recent news related to Boston’s international presence, as Jaylen Brown was announced as a participant in the NBA Africa Game 2017.

The London affair will reportedly be a home game for the Sixers, which ultimately works in the Celtics’ favor. There will be no tangible benefit to playing as the home team in a neutral city, and in effect, Philadelphia will lose one game at the familiar confines of the Wells Fargo Center.

Neither team projects to include a player originally from the United Kingdom, but several players with European roots are likely to be involved, including the Celtics’ Ante Zizic (Croatia) and Guerschon Yabusele (France), and the Sixers’ Timothe Luwawu-Cabbarot (France) and Dario Saric (Croatia).