Philadelphia 76ers: 3 players who made the most out of the bubble

The Philadelphia 76ers went .500 in their Orlando seeding games.

A rocky regular season finished on an appropriately rocky note for the Philadelphia 76ers, who went 4-4 in eight Orlando seeding games. Ben Simmons is out for the season, Joel Embiid got hurt on two separate occasions, and Al Horford is back in the starting five by necessity. Fun!

The Sixers will now face the Boston Celtics in round one. All this, only to face the Celtics again. As underdogs (again), no less.

That said, Philadelphia does have a chance to make noise in the postseason. While Simmons’ absence will irrevocably scar the Sixers’ title odds, the Bubble Sixers weren’t all bad. In fact, there were a lot of positives in Orlando.

For example, Al Horford isn’t totally cooked. He averaged 10.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 25.4 minutes per game. He also shot 52.6 percent from deep, and was far more efficient from the field in comparison to his pre-bubble numbers. Horford’s resurgence on offense could go a long way toward making the Sixers competitive.

Or you could point toward Kyle O’Quinn, who nearly recorded a triple-double against the Suns. The veteran center established himself as the third-string center, thoroughly outplaying the likes of Norvel Pelle. In the event of an emergency, he’s the man Philadelphia will turn to at center.

Also deserving of a shoutout is Mike Scott, who carved out a spot in the rotation and could see some minutes against Boston. After struggling all season, the bubble was a real pivot for Scott. He looks more like his old self.

In the end, neither Horford, nor Scott, nor O’Quinn cracked my list of the three players who made the most out of the bubble. Consider them my honorable mentions.