Philadelphia 76ers clinch second straight playoff berth

The Philadelphia 76ers will now make their second straight playoff appearance since the franchise started “The Process” in 2013-14.

After holding off a 52 point performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Philadelphia 76ers were able to claim a playoff berth with a win against the Milwaukee Bucks. This would be the team’s second straight playoff appearance for the roster with its current core of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

This is the first time the Sixers have made back-to-back playoff appearances since the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons when the team was coached by Doug Collins and led by the core of Jrue Holiday, Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner, Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand. However, this current iteration of the Sixers is much more talented than this past one that made two straight playoff appearances.

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In the two years that the Sixers made the playoffs under Collins, the team posted records of 41-41 and 35-31 respectively. Whereas the team led by current head coach Brett Brown have had the respective records of 52-30 and 45-25 currently.

There should be little argument that the core of Embiid, Simmons, Jimmy Butler, J.J. Redick and Tobias Harris is better than Holiday, Young, Turner, Iguodala and Brand. The core, led by Collins, has a winshare total of 26.3 for the 2011-12 season. This current core, led by Brown, has a winshare total of 27.8 through this season thus far. It’s important to note that Harris was added at the trade deadline so his winshares with the Sixers are much lower than the other core players.

The core led by Collins made it the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and the first round in the two years they made it to the playoffs. This current core, led by Brown, made it to the conference semi-finals last season, but have the expectation to compete for a championship this season. With four star level players and the second best starting five in the NBA, it gives the Sixers a good shot at a deep playoff run.

Based on the standings right now, the Sixers would matchup against the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. Its a favorable matchup for Philly based on the fact that they won the season series 3-1. If they could maintain their current spot it would set them up for postseason success, which I have wrote about in the past.

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The Philadelphia 76ers may be in a better place now than they were last time they made two straight postseason runs, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy. Before focusing on the postseason, the Sixers have to finish their last 12 regular season games strong and come into the playoffs hot.