Philadelphia 76ers: The rest of the 2019-20 season according to NBA 2K20

Breaking it all down

It is vitally important to remember that this is a video game and not reality. While it is fun to pretend it is real (especially in those scenarios the 76ers win the Finals) it is still a simulation. But 2K has been accurate in the past. Each of the last two seasons 2K predicted the Finals and Conference Finals participants before the season started.

With that being said, the data presented by 2K can give us some revelations.

Each time the 76ers made the Finals they followed the same path. Miami in the first round, followed by Milwaukee, then Boston in the conference finals. Joel Embiid dominated, averaging over 28 points per game throughout the playoffs.

The Sixers’ defense dominated games from the first tip of the first round. In one game against Miami, Ben Simmons racked up 10 steals, tying A.I. for the most ever in a playoff game. The lone finals the Sixers made, but did not end up with the trophy, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons got hurt against the Lakers.

This means that the 76ers are still a good team and have been a good team. The last two seasons the Sixers won 50 games and they have a chance to do it again this year. The Sixers were supposedly built to beat the Bucks.

In 17 out of 25 of the simulations the Bucks and Sixers faced off in the second round — the 76ers won 11 times.

2K is a video game driven by data. The data believes that the Sixers are still a top-flight basketball team and won’t be an easy out in the playoffs. They beat Miami 19 times (yes, that does mean Brooklyn beat Milwaukee twice) and Milwaukee 11 times. The Sixers made the ECF on 11 different simulations. The six simulations where the Sixers lost to the Bucks went at least six games.

This is where they struggled, however. Toronto overpowered the Sixers each time they met, although three series went to a Game 7 that Philly lost (sorry for the bad memory).

The biggest IF for the Sixers is if they can find ways to win on the road. When the season resumes the Sixers have (on paper) an incredibly easy road schedule against all but one playoff team and that playoff team is the eighth-seeded Grizzlies. If the Sixers can figure out how to win on the road down the stretch their confidence will soar and they can be the team we all expected.

2K predicts the Sixers at the five seed and that means they’ll be without home-court advantage against Milwaukee, Boston, Toronto, or Miami. The Sixers still have a shot at making a run in the playoffs.

I’m not too concerned with 2K not predicting many Sixers in the All-NBA teams. Ben got his spot on the All-NBA First Defensive Team, which he more than deserved. Drummond and Adebayo have played significantly more games than Joel, which is totally okay. I’d rather have Embiid healthy for the playoffs and bring a championship back to Philadelphia. Although the individual accolade would be a welcomed addition for Embiid, I’m sure he would rather the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Shifting gears toward the Western Conference, the WCF more often than not became the battle for LA. Despite all the different combinations of 3-7 seeds, the Lakers and Clippers still seemed to meet.

The only team that gave each of them problems was the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs have shown they can hang with the LA teams so far this season and 2K thinks that might be able to translate to wins come the postseason. The Lakers and Clippers both should hope, according to the simulations, the Mavericks face off with their LA counterpart.

The most likely NBA Finals is the Lakers and the Bucks (8/25), which makes sense considering they have the best two records in the league as it stands.

Giannis will more than likely win MVP, Kawhi will probably win DPOY, Ja will win ROY and Bam is going to be the MIP.

The biggest question in the playoffs will be if Brooklyn can get Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving back, although ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that scenario is unlikely.

It is again important to keep in mind this is just a video game but in the past it has proven to be right and, right now, I will take basketball in any form possible.