PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The playoffs have finally arrived for the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. So has their first round matchup, along with a chance to change their history of recent playoff failures.
Washington's victory over Indiana on Thursday night locked the Wizards into the eighth seed and a battle with Philly.
The Sixers and Wizards begin their playoff series on Sunday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers are hoping it will be the start of a deep playoff run.
Coach Doc Rivers says Washington presents plenty of challenges in round one. Rivers also credits former Sixers player and current Wizards coach Scott Brooks for engineering an impressive turnaround after a slow start to the season.
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"People forget where they were after 15 games and then where they ended up," said Rivers. "The turnaround job that Scottie Brooks has done should be mentioned and talked about more, because they’ve done a heck of a job."
The Sixers have plenty of respect for the Wizards, but their main focus is getting their game into playoff form. That also means more minutes for particular players, a change from the regular season. Rivers knows this is hardly the time for load management.
"Minutes get thrown out in the playoffs," Rivers said. "Everybody knows that. During the regular season, you really do try to keep each guy at their minutes that we have decided that they should play. Playoff basketball is so much more intense. Adrenaline is higher. Energy is burned faster. We’ll find out what each guy can handle as the playoffs go on."
While most of the Sixers have a host of playoff experience, rookie Tyrese Maxey will get his first taste of the post-season.
Maxey knows how fortunate he is going right from college to playing in the NBA playoffs with the likes of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
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"It’s a blessing," said Maxey. "Like I’ve been saying every day, not every NBA player can say throughout their career that they played on a team like this with a Defensive Player of the Year finalist, an MVP candidate. It's just a great overall team."
How great the Sixers are remains to be seen.
Fans of "The Process" expected a run of NBA titles. Instead, the Sixers have only gotten as far as former coach Doug Collins took them, which would be the seventh game of the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2012.
Ben Simmons knows they have a tremendous opportunity to write a different story this year.
"I don’t take it for granted, because I was in the same position last year and obviously got hurt and was unable to play in the playoffs," Simmons said.
"For me and this team, we’ve got to take it, as this could be the last opportunity we get to play with each other."