The Boston Celtics claimed their ninth straight win after defeating the Washington Wizards 140-133 at the TD Garden on Wednesday and continued to lead the whole league with a 9-1 record. In contrast, the other championship contender in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers, suffered a painful loss to the Orlando Magic 112-97 at the Amway Center.

Both teams went through dramatic changes to their franchise this summer. Many considered that the 76ers gained more than they lost and the opposite for the Celtics. However, so far in the new season, the Celtics continued to advance triumphantly; while the 76ers have already lost the fourth consecutive away game.

What led to such a difference?

Celtics have the easiest offense launch

Before Kemba Walker came to Boston, he carried one of the heaviest burdens in offense of the whole league and managed to average a career-high of 25.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. Today he has the following teammates: Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum. Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart. Each is able to take care of the ball and shoot three-pointers.

The offensive system of the Celtics is still built on dishing out. But with so many players able to do everything, the team's offense can go on and on with various new tricks. Each of the four players we mentioned above plus Walker is an offensive threat in both shooting and slashing. Therefore, every move he makes on the court will change the opponents' defense and lead to opportunities somewhere else, if not direct scoring opportunity for himself.

As the team have more than enough playmakers, they do not have to do too many passes which will help them reduce turnovers. Fewer turnovers mean less pressure on defense. Meanwhile, Daniel Theis and Robert Williams are doing a good job of taking over from Al Horford in defense.

Theis is a great example of a role player. He does a little bit of everything – setting screen, finishing, three-point shooting, rim protecting, double teaming. More importantly, the right timing. While he's able to deliver 3.5 blocks per 36 minutes, Theis is also doing well in covering both the three-point line and the paint.

Williams has better athleticism than Thies so he can make some really rare defensive moves like blocking three-pointer from front. The other interesting thing of his game is that the 22-year-old big man can make some smart passes from time to time. Together, Thies and Williams made Boston not miss Horford that much.

Another surprise of the Celtics this season is the improved performance of Hayward and Brown. Before he broke his left hand, Hayward could drop an average of 18.9 points and 4.1 assists at a usage rate of 22.3 percent and 63.8 TS percentage in the eight games he played. Simply speaking, he's finding that All-Star orchestrating forward of the Utah Jazz back.

Though Brown again watched his three-point rate drop to 30.4 percent, his TS rate rose to 61.6 percent because he's doing better assaulting the rim. More importantly, Brown's progress did not come from an increase of early offense, but better dribble. Thanks to that, he called for 3.83 screens per 36 minutes, which's a huge growth from 0.988 in the past.

76ers prefer playoffs over regular season

The 76ers may be the total opposite of the Celtics in offense. Their huge starting squad is made of five players with clear advantages and disadvantages and that makes their game quite difficult from time to time.

Lack of shooting already began to hurt Ben Simmons and, more importantly, his team. He deserved some credit for showing more determination in penetration and adding more posting-up in his offense. Nonetheless, as long as he does make perimeter shots, Simmons cannot change the fact that his defender will choose to eave him open outside the three-point line.

Joel Embiid's game is connected with Simmons'. When Simmons is on the court, Embiid will have to move to the three-point line to stretch out from him. Despite that, the seven-footer has to work close to the basket to play his role best in offense. Meanwhile, without J.J. Reddick, Embiid does not have a shooter to make screen and hand-off plays. As a result, Embiid often had to waste his time shooting low-efficiently or watching his sloppy pass stolen by the opponents.

Horford's arrival was supposed to be Philadelphia's most important franchise improvement but the team are using it wrong. As probably the only player with complete skills, Horford often had to carry major responsibility in offense which is rarely his job in his career.

Josh Richardson and Tobias Harris shared a similar problem: they were forced to do something there're not good at. Richardson is a good role player but he is not built for calling screens or orchestrating. Harris needs enough possessions to make his offensive production but his job always included more off-ball movement around Simmons and Embiid.

It should be made clear that the 76ers are being underrated. In fact, the team's features made regular season games hard for them but will help them in the slower and tougher competitions in the playoffs. When teams cannot rely on the normal tactics and must turn to the old-school basketball, tussling and isolation, no team want to meet Philadelphia's five big guys in a seven-game series.

Other games on Wednesday included (home teams in bold):

Memphis Grizzlies 119-117 Charlotte Hornets

San Antonio Spurs 114-129 Minnesota Timberwolves

Golden State Warriors 94-120 Los Angeles Lakers

Toronto Raptors 114-106 Portland Trail Blazers

Los Angeles Clippers 93-102 Houston Rockets