Can Philadelphia 76ers make 4th seed in NBA Playoffs?

Playoff seeding

The Philadelphia 76ers have a long prosperous history in the NBA playoffs. As a matter of fact, the Philadelphia 76ers are third in NBA Playoff appearances at 47. Only the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers have more. But the team has undergone a drought of five seasons.

They last played in the 2011-2012 NBA Playoffs as an eight-seed.  In that year, the team defeated the Chicago Bulls 4-2, only to be stopped by the Boston Celtics 4-3. That was the team which boasted Lou Williams, Jrue Holiday, Thaddeus Young, Andre Iguodala, and Elton Brand. That team held no elite stars, but had an incredibly deep roster.

So how does NBA seeding affect the bracket?

NBA Playoff Bracketology

Unlike the NFL, the NBA uses a fixed bracket to determine playoff games. That is, there is no reseeding as teams advance. Each conference ranks the eight top teams. From that group, the brackets are determined:  1st vs 8th, 2nd vs. 7th, 3rd vs. 6th, and 4th vs. 5th, all at best of seven. For the next round, the 4/5 winner goes on to face the 1/8 winner.  Likewise, the 3/6 winner goes on to face the 2/7 winner, again the best of seven. The winners of that matchup face one another. In each playoff round, the game format has been set at 2-2-1-1-1 with the first two home games to the better ranked team.

And that is the key to the fourth seed.  Get to the fourth seed, and Philadelphia plays at least one round with home court advantage. For a team coming out of 10 and 28 win seasons, that is a huge morale boost to the fans and the organization. But there is more to it than just one home court advantage. There is the entire matter of getting to an NBA Championship. And there is a lot of history as to which seed gets to the NBA Finals.