How important are the Sixers’ final regular season games?

The Sixers have placed themselves in a neck-to-neck race for the first place position in the East. After recently losing four straight in the absence of Ben Simmons the Nets have taken a one-game lead in the Eastern Conference standings.

In recent years, matchup drop-off between seeds six through eight have not been as drastic as this year entails. The one-seed holds extreme value in providing the “easiest” route to the NBA finals. Let’s break it down round by round.

The Sixers would face a significantly more challenging path to the NBA finals as the two-seed, as opposed to the one-seed

In the NBA playoffs three things have proved to matter most: experience, star power, and end of season chemistry. Currently the reigning eastern conference champions (Miami Heat) are the seventh seed in the east and if the season ended today, would be the Sixers’ first round matchup. This is the scariest first round matchup you can imagine. Your talking about a team led by one the best coaches in the league, two all-NBA caliber players, and a great young core that took the world by storm last year. We all have seen what Jimmy Butler is capable of in the playoffs and playing against his old team just adds extra incentive.

Let’s give the Heat the benefit of the doubt, and say they improve their status and bump the Celtics off the six seed. Now you are welcoming the Sixers’ kryptonite from the past five years to town. The Celtics have all three qualities I started my article with. They have two young stars, playoff experience, and are starting to put things together as the season rolls on. The Celtics and the Heat are two teams many people believed would be atop the east to start the year and would be a horrible draw for the sixers in round one. These are very realistic matchups for the Sixers if they end up in the two-seed slot.

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Now lets look at potential one-seed matchups. This is where I feel MUCH more comfortable as a Sixers fan. The Hornets, Pacers, and Wizards are most likely first round matchups if the Sixers steal the one seed from the Nets.

Looking at these three teams rosters they all have their flaws. The Hornets are young, Pacers seemingly average, and the Wizards lack depth. None of these teams have playoff winning experience and are years away from championship contention. This would be a much more favorable round one matchup for the Sixers.

That’s just half the importance of grabbing the one seed. The next reason implies staying away from the Bucks in round two. Getting the one seed ensures you don’t see Giannis and the stacked bucks roster until the Eastern conference finals, if they end in the three-seed position, which looks most likely as of now. You are avoiding one of the best players in the league until the last possible moment, and can potentially rest in easier round one and two matchups. A second round matchup with the bucks would be a slugfest. Both teams hungry to climb the mountain top and reach an NBA finals for the first time decades.

These next 10 games for the Sixers may decide their fate come playoff time. Its extremely important to create a favorable path when the games matter most. You do so by winning games in the regular season and controlling where you end up. This year more than ever the 1 seed holds merit. Plus we all know how good the sixers are in the Wells Fargo center!