Stuart London
The following is the best-case scenario … and it could very well happen.
There is a very good chance the regular season could be dumped and the NBA goes right to the playoffs. The owners will not be happy to lose the gate but, at least to start, the games will probably have no fans anyhow.
Since they would have to go with the NBA standings as of March 11, the Sixers as the No. 6 seed would take on the Boston Celtics in the first round.
Another advantage to the regular season, not re-starting is, in the current standings, the 76ers get the Thunder’s first-round pick this year off the Markelle Fultz trade.
Now, the Sixers would not have home-court advantage as a sixth-seed but since there will be no crowds, it really doesn’t matter.
The Sixers by then will hopefully have a healthy Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid’s shoulder will be 100-percent and, having won three out of four over Boston in the regular season, should dispatch them (this is said with the caveat that Brad Stevens could outcoach Brett Brown so badly the C’s might get some wins they do not deserve).
Toronto was on a roll when the season was curtailed. In terms of raw talent, they do match up with a healthy Sixers team. They got lucky once…just once.
That brings the 76ers vs. Milwaukee in the conference finals. The Bucks are tough, but, the Sixers were literally constructed to beat Milwaukee in the playoffs.
Facing either the Lakers or the Clippers in the NBA finals is not a scary prospect. Heck, missing three starters the Sixers almost knocked them both off at the Staples Center the week before the closedown.
So could the 76ers end up as NBA champs? About as likely as, say, Sarah Palin singing rap on national TV in a bear suit.