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The Boston Celtics will be looking to kick off the 2015-16 NBA season on a winning note when they play host to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night as big 11-point betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Expectations are on the rise in Boston since the Celtics qualified for the playoffs as a No. 7 seed last spring. However, a fast start is key this season for the Celtics, who recovered to win 40 games last season after stumbling to a 4-11 start. Boston sports -130 odds at the sportsbooks of winning OVER 44.5 games in the season ahead.

Boston also enters Wednesday night's Sixers vs. Celtics betting matchup at TD Garden with 2-1 odds to win the Atlantic Division, but remain a distant 100-1 on the odds to win the NBA championship.

The Sixers posted an 18-64 record last season, which ended with 10 straight losses for them. The club's rebuild also took a hit with news that 2014 third-overall pick Joel Embiid will have to wait another year to make his NBA debut after undergoing surgery on a lingering foot injury.

With the addition of this year's third-overall pick, center Jahlil Okafor, who arrived at camp as a 7-2 favorite to win Rookie of the Year honors, and former Michigan Wolverines standout Nik Stauskas, the 76ers are expected to show improvement, but remain 66-1 longshots on the Atlantic Division odds.

The Celtics have had the upper hand in recent meetings with Philadelphia, picking up straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) wins in four contests last season and going 7-3 SU and ATS over their last 10 meetings.

The Toronto Raptors visit the Celtics on Friday night in the first of four clashes between the expected front runners in the Atlantic Division.

The Raptors open the campaign as two-time defending champions in the division and are short 1-2 favorites to pull off the divisional three-peat but sit back at 50-1 odds to win their first NBA crown. Boston has won close decisions in their last two meetings with the Raptors, but are just 3-7 SU in their last 10 meetings, going 2-2 SU and ATS at home.

The Celtics wrap up their opening-week schedule with a Sunday afternoon date with the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs have beaten Boston in seven straight games, going 1-5-1 ATS, and will be hungry for redemption following a disappointing first-round playoff exit last season. The 2014 NBA champions open the season trailing only favored Cleveland on the odds to win the NBA championship at 7-2.

Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images