Sixers: 3 advantages over Hawks in second round

The Philadelphia 76ers are widely favored over the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the NBA playoffs despite uncertainty around Joel Embiid‘s health status. There’s a reason for that — the Sixers are the No. 1 seed and posted the NBA’s third-best record during the regular season. That level of success doesn’t happen by accident.

Few teams are more balanced on both sides of the ball than Philadelphia. While the Sixers’ offense is prone to struggles without Embiid, the overall makeup is playoff-proven. Ben Simmons is an elite facilitator and downhill threat. Tobias Harris can go side-to-side and exploit mismatches. Joel Embiid, if and when he’s on the floor, is a premier isolation scorer. Danny Green and Seth Curry are two elite shooters.

The Sixers have dominated lesser opponents all year, and while the Hawks are quite talented across the board, there’s a reason Atlanta sits No. 4, and not in the top spot. The Sixers have been the better team, with an elite defense to back up a proven offensive gameplan. Even if Embiid misses time, which feels inevitable, logic would favor the Sixers. That’s without mentioning the home-court advantage that comes with the Wells Fargo Center.

In short: Philadelphia has a handful of advantages in this series.

Sixers advantage over Hawks in second round: Best player in the series

Joel Embiid will finish second in MVP voting. He is a true superstar. He not only shoulders the offensive burden of a superstar, but combines it with singularly impactful defense. He is probably the NBA’s top rim protector outside Rudy Gobert. His ability to take over games on both sides of the ball is why Philadelphia sits atop the East.

Of course, there’s now uncertainty as to how often and how well Embiid will play in this series. He is listed as questionable for Game 1 with a small tear in his right meniscus, but general Sixers pessimism would suggest Embiid misses some, if not all of the series. If that were to happen, an increased burden would then fall on Ben Simmons… who may also be better than Atlanta’s best player.

The Ben Simmons-Trae Young debate deserves a bigger stage than this section of this article, but Simmons is certainly on Young’s level in terms of overall impact. Young can do more as a No. 1 scorer and is more playoff-friendly on paper, but Simmons as a playmaking engine — in addition to his elite multi-positional defense — puts him on a pedestal with the best of the best.

Even if Embiid misses time, the Sixers will probably have the series’ best overall player. On top of that, there’s Tobias Harris — a more reliable second (or first) option scorer than anyone on the Hawks not named Trae Young. Philadelphia’s top end talent has the potential to overwhelm Atlanta, especially if Embiid is out there.