4. The Philadelphia 76ers make the NBA Finals
Prediction: The Philadelphia 76ers will beat the Boston Celtics 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals but get swept by the Golden State Warriors in the Finals.
In the 2018 NBA playoffs, the Celtics were greater than the sum of their parts. This season, with a full-strength team, they will find it hard to make things click. Jayson Tatum emerged as a quality starter and possible offensive first option as a rookie, and Jaylen Brown made significant improvements in his sophomore year. Kyrie Irving worked well with them before his injury, but Gordon Hayward‘s return could mean that too many Celtics will want the ball all the time.
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On the contrary, the Sixers have a well-balanced team with players who do not need the ball on offense in order to have an effect on each play. Defenses have to watch out for J.J. Redick and Robert Covington due to their knockdown perimeter shooting while Dario Saric provides a threat as a slasher, shooter, and when he posts up. Joel Embiid is the clear go-to guy, and Simmons is the only starter who needs the ball to make an impact. But that’s fine: the Australian averaged 95 touches per game, second in the league behind Russell Westbrook.
Although the Celtics have 82 regular season games to figure out how to spread the ball around, Brett Brown will take advantage of their lack of playmaking ability in their starting lineup. Brown and Tatum don’t make their teammates better at all, Hayward has averaged just 3.4 assists per game in his entire career, and Irving, as a point guard, has a career average of 5.5 assists per game, far fewer than Simmons.
Philly has enough defensive talent to cope when the Celtics play isolation ball, but the real test will come when Brad Stevens has his squad playing like the poor man’s version of the 2014 Spurs.
The Philadelphia 76ers are hungry and have a year of playoff experience under their belts. They retained the same core of players they had last year and improved their depth, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the Sixers take down the Celtics this time around.