The Philadelphia 76ers could land anywhere from fourth to sixth in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Philadelphia 76ers’ first game back is August 1. It happens to be a game of great consequence — their final matchup with the Indiana Pacers this season. The Sixers and Pacers are currently tied in the standings at 39-26, the tiebreaker belonging to Indiana.
A win would push the Sixers immediately to fifth in the East. The middle of the East standings is currently a three-team crapshoot — Miami, Indiana, and Philadelphia all within striking distance of one another. The Sixers could stay at six or move as high as four, and plenty of opinions have been formed as to which option is preferable.
We here at the site have discussed the topic at length, especially on The Sixer Sense Podcast. Some believe the Sixers should aim to keep the six-seed, and by extension, avoid the first-seeded Bucks in the second round. Others believe momentum is more important. As for Brett Brown, he’s not one to purposefully manipulate the standings.
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Here’s Brown’s quote, courtesy of the Inquirer’s Keith Pompey:
"“Worrying too much about moving up [in standings], because you could play this team or avoid that team, I stay away from that… I think sometimes you got to be careful for what you wish for. It’s always ends up of you are healthy and are you playing well.”"
This is the right approach. Brown is coaching for his job, and the Sixers haven’t exactly helped his case this season. However you slice it — injuries, poor roster construction, poor chemistry — the Sixers have been unable to establish any semblance of consistency this season. To purposefully lose down the stretch when you have the worst road record of any “contender” is cocky at best, and foolish at worst.
The Sixers need to use the eight seeding games to find a rhythm, figure out a rotation, and build some continuity ahead of the postseason. Philadelphia can still compete in the East — there’s no doubt about it — but whether they will compete comes down to chemistry on the court. It’s difficult to build chemistry when you’re intentionally throwing games.
Rarely do NBA teams blatantly lose games in favor of poorer seeding. It’s a different atmosphere this season without home-court advantage, but the Sixers will have to plow through Milwaukee at some point anyway. Maybe the second round — when Joel Embiid and Al Horford are fresher than a hypothetical third round — is the optimal meeting point anyway.
If the Sixers were to move into the fourth or fifth slot, the likely result is a first-round matchup with Jimmy Butler and the Heat, followed by Milwaukee in the second round and Toronto (or Boston) in the conference finals. The inverse is Boston (or Toronto) in the first round, Toronto (or Boston) in the second round, then Milwaukee in the conference finals.
The Sixers have matched up favorably with Boston this season, but the Celtics are still a better team than Miami. Jayson Tatum is a budding superstar, and this postseason feels suspiciously like his coming out party. I’m not sure a Boston-Toronto double header to start the postseason — then Milwaukee, if the Sixers survive — is the idyllic scenario some have made it out to be.
Brown is essentially regurgitating a standard PR answer to the question. No coach will ever say “yeah, let’s lose more games.” But at the same time, he’s right. And very rarely should a team purposefully lose. It’s exactly as Brown phrased it: be careful what you ask for.