The Philadelphia 76ers have an easy schedule if NBA votes to return.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, unless something drastic happens, the NBA should pass a vote that approves a return of regular-season games for 22 teams. Of course, the Philadelphia 76ers are apart of the 22 teams set to play eight regular-season games before entering the playoffs.
The 22 teams returning to play include the 16 playoff teams, along with the New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, and Washington Wizards. The non-playoff teams will have a chance to catch a playoff spot in eight regular-season games or if they are only four games out of the eighth seed, they could play-into the postseason.
However, the 76ers won’t have to worry about a play-in tournament of any kind as they are firmly in the playoff spot. They are currently nine games ahead of the eighth-place Orlando Magic. Still, these eight regular-season games are important. It will determine who Philly faces in the first round.
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As things currently stand, the Sixers are set to face the third seed Boston Celtics as the sixth seed. This is probably one of the more favorable first-round matchups for the 76ers as the Celtics don’t have the interior defense to contend with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
The Sixers also have perimeter defenders that can hang with Boston’s star power. As I said in a recent TSS Podcast, the 76ers should want to stay in the sixth seed, especially if the Celtics stay at the third spot.
Philly is currently tied with the Indiana Pacers and if they leapfrog them, the Sixers could end up facing the Miami Heat in the first round. The Heat have owned the Sixers for three out of four games this season and it’s not a first-round matchup Philly should want.
Sixers easy schedule.
However, it may not be in their control if they move up in the standings, because they have a pretty easy eight-game stretch to end the regular season. Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports explained how the eight regular-season games were going to be scheduled.
The plan is for teams to continue their schedule as planned, with the next 8 games. If team is scheduled to play Hawks/Bulls/Pistons, it moves onto the next game on schedule, league sources tell Yahoo Sports
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) June 3, 2020
That means based on their schedule the 76ers would matchup against the Indiana Pacers, Wizards, Toronto Raptors, Suns, Blazers, Rockets, Wizards, and Orlando Magic. Only the Pacers, Raptors, and Rockets have winning records at this point and there’s a solid chance that Philly could go 5-3.
As I wrote above, the Sixers should want to stay sixth seed, especially if Boston is the third seed, but it just might not happen based on their potential schedule. The good news is with this easy schedule, the 76ers will have an opportunity to incorporate Shake Milton into the starting five in place of Al Horford, if head coach Brett Brown decides to do so.
Assuming the NBA passing the vote to return to basketball, the Philadelphia 76ers should have a fairly easy remainder to their regular season.