Why the Philadelphia 76ers should want the 6-seed
Basketball is back(ish)! With the NBA’s return to play plan commencing in just over three weeks, it is time to talk playoff basketball for the Philadelphia 76ers. Should the Sixers want the fourth, fifth, or sixth seed?
If the NBA Playoffs began immediately, without the final eight regular season games being played, the Philadelphia 76ers would match up with the three-seed Boston Celtics. I am well aware of the recent history of Boston dominating Philly and being the big brother we can’t beat. Prior to this season, the 76ers had only won one road game against the Celtics in the last five seasons. Yet, this year feels different.
Philadelphia went 3-1 against Boston, winning both home games and splitting the away games. Considering the Sixers’ inexplicably awful road record this year, I believe the win at TD Garden is significant. Even though Al Horford has underperformed this year, he was the Embiid-stopper for the Celtics. The literal and figurative blocker has been removed.
The Sixers match up very favorably against the Celtics now. Additionally, Boston will be without one of their best players, Gordon Hayward, at some point during the NBA playoffs, as he has committed to be home for the birth of his child.
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The biggest reason to avoid the four or five-seed is a potential second round matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, who hold the NBA’s best overall record at 53-12. The 76ers are not intimidated by the Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo. On Christmas Day this year, Philly proved this by dominating the Bucks and holding Giannis to 18 points on 8-for-27 shooting. Milwaukee won the following two matchups, but both were away games for the Sixers, and as previously mentioned the team’s road struggles were real.
Looking ahead to playing Milwaukee is dangerous though, as the fourth or fifth seed all but guarantees a first round series with the Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler’s departure hurt the Sixers, most notably in crunch time when the team needs a bucket. That pain will be even greater if Butler knocks his former team from the playoffs in round one. Miami has been sneaky good this year, specifically against the Sixers. They won three of the four regular season games played, most recently a 31-point rout in South Beach the day following the Super Bowl.
At the end of the day, to be the best you have to beat the best, and this year the Milwaukee Bucks have been the best team not just in the Eastern Conference, but also the entire NBA. It is all but guaranteed that to win the Eastern Conference, you will have to face Milwaukee at some point. It would be advantageous, however, to delay this matchup to allow the Sixers to get back into game shape and rebuild chemistry.
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Boston and Toronto are less daunting matchups for this year’s Sixers team when compared to Miami and Milwaukee. This can be seen in a combined record of 4-3 versus the former two teams and 2-5 versus the latter two.