4 reasons the Philadelphia 76ers are not sleepers

Should the Philadelphia 76ers be considered a sleeper pick when the season resumes?

Underachievement is not a strong enough word to describe how inconsistent the Philadelphia 76ers’ play has been after such lofty expectations early on. Why shouldn’t they be sleepers, when they were on pace to have the best home record in NBA history for a playoff team?

However, we know that there’s an incomplete picture that’s been painted due to a number of issues beyond coaches and players’ control. That picture will have a chance to be finished soon, and optimism is in the brush being used to illustrate that the Sixers are still a team to beat in the East.

Here are a few reasons that the 76ers should still be considered a legitimate contender and not a sleeper pick.

Reason 1

Despite a poor road record, the 76ers have beaten every elite NBA team. From Milwaukee on Christmas Day to the Lakers on a nationally televised Saturday night game in January, they have shown they can more than hang with the best. The Sixers put the clamps on Giannis and channeled their inner J.J. Redick that day, draining 21 three-pointers.

When the Lakers visited the Wells Fargo Center, the Sixers clicked on every level, diminishing LeBron James’s impact. Even the Clippers, who rolled out a healthy roster of players, were impressively taken down by the Sixers in February. In March, they almost lost to a short-handed Sixers team, where Shake Milton gave them the business, scoring 39 points in a game that should not have been as close.

With other big wins against Denver, Utah, Toronto, and Boston, it is evident that Philadelphia is not quite the underdog that Vegas has picked them to be. Think about it — do sleeper picks put dominant teams in their place?