Philadelphia 76ers reminded fans of championship aspirations on Christmas
The Philadelphia 76ers gave fans a reminder of why so many predicted a championship run this season.
A strange mix of objective success and collective panic, the Philadelphia 76ers‘ season has given fans plenty to talk about. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons haven’t looked quite right. The Al Horford signing looks iffy. The Tobias Harris signing looks better than expected. And the Sixers, despite a 23-10 record, sit fourth in a loaded Eastern Conference.
While the Sixers have looked the part of a playoff contender this season, they haven’t always looked the part of a title contender. Over the summer, many claimed the Sixers as the Eastern Conference standard-bearers. The Bucks’ dominance, as well as strong campaigns from Miami and Boston, has since created a cloud of doubt.
As families gathered on Christmas, however, a shift occurred. A shift in collective opinion — almost a reminder to the public. With stockings stuffed, gifts exchanged, and turkeys baked, the Sixers took on the vaunted No. 1 seed at home, welcoming Milwaukee to a raucous Wells Fargo Center.
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The result was a sturdy win for the Sixers. A thorough, dominant, all-boxes-checked victory. Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to 18 points on 27 shots. The entire starting five was productive at the same time. The Sixers set a Christmas Day record with 21 made threes. The spacing-less Sixers!
Obviously, a one-game sample size doesn’t carry much weight in the grand scheme of things. The Bucks will have better shooting nights. The Sixers will have worse shooting nights. Giannis will eventually get his, even if Philadelphia has multiple answers to the 7-foot wrecking ball. The scales will even out in a hypothetical seven-game series.
Even so, the Bucks have only lost five times this season. No team has dominated on a consistent basis to the degree Milwaukee has this season — not even LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Showtime 2.0. The Bucks have been unequivocally the best NBA team in 2019-20, and the Sixers walloped them across the board.
This game served as a reminder of what the Sixers are capable of. Despite the kinks in a jumbo-sized, point guard-less rotation, Philadelphia — when shots are falling, Embiid is humming, and Simmons is asserting — can rock with any team in basketball.
Few teams have a distinctly higher ceiling than the Sixers. Philadelphia has elite defenders at every position, a high dosage of star power, and a bonafide top-10 player in Embiid. When the Sixers are clicking — when the Sixers show up — it’s hard not to consider them a title contender.
So yes, it’s too early to scratch Milwaukee off the contenders list. It’s too early to ignore Philadelphia’s many, many flaws. But it’s also too early to ignore the Sixers. To let the season’s many bumps and bruises gloss over the Sixers’ immense potential.
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Philadelphia is still here to compete for a title. Chip on 3.