The Philadelphia 76ers have guaranteed their appearance in the NBA playoffs. But if they played today, who would their likely opponents be?
The Philadelphia 76ers have climbed to a 45-30 record and have seven games remaining. For now, have played to the 4-seed of the NBA Eastern Conference. Still, they are just .5 games behind 3-seed Cleveland Cavaliers, and just .5 games ahead of the 5-seed Indiana Pacers. Complicating the matter is the recent injury to star center Joel Embiid. Can the Philadelphia 76ers sustain their place?
Well, the team has seven remaining games to play. If they win 5 of the last seven, they will end the season at 50-32. That’s far better than anyone had expected. So if the playoffs started today, who would the Philadelphia 76ers face? Could they advance? And if they did advance, who would they face? In short, which teams will the Philadelphia 76ers face each round of the playoffs if they move ahead to the next round?
NBA Bracketology
The Philadelphia 76ers, currently as a 4-seed, has this path in the NBA Playoffs Bracketology:
Best of seven series against the 5-seed team (Indiana Pacers). Advancing to round two, the 76ers next face the winner of the 1-seed (Toronto Raptors) versus the 8-seed (Milwaukee Bucks).
That winner then advances to face the winners of the 3-seed (Cleveland Cavaliers) versus 6-seed (Washington Wizards) and the 2-seed (Boston Celtics) versus the 7-seed (Miami Heat). The winner of that series goes on to face the winner of the NBA Western Conference in the NBA Championship. So lets break down the most likely opponent for each best-of-seven series.