PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Although the 76ers needed up until the second-to-last regular-season game, they’re the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time in 20 years.
After an unusual, jam-packed 72-game schedule, they now have about five days to rest and practice while they wait to find out who they will play in the first round.
Related
“I’m just worried about us because we don’t know who the opponent is,” Doc Rivers said after Sunday’s 128-117 regular-season finale victory over the Orlando Magic. “I guess that’s a little bit of a disadvantage. I don’t know. I think the advantage is we get the practice time.”
Meanwhile, the 7-seeded Boston Celtics, 8-seeded Washington Wizards, 9-seeded Indiana Pacers and 10-seeded Charlotte Hornets will participate in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament Tuesday and Thursday.
The Sixers won’t find out who they play this weekend until late Thursday night. The winner of the Pacers-Hornets game will face the loser of the Celtics-Wizards contest on Thursday, and the winner of that will slot into the eight-spot to take on the Sixers in the first round.
Until then, Rivers said they’re going to “work on a lot of stuff that pertains to us first.”
“By Wednesday we’ll know, or have a better idea, and then we’ll start working on the other team,” he added.
“I don’t care who we play,” Ben Simmons added after Friday’s clinching victory. “That’s the point of having the No. 1 seed. You feel like you’re the best team in your conference, so you supposed to be able to play anybody. If we were scared, we shouldn’t be in this position.”
Boston Celtics (36-36)
The Sixers are 3-0 this season against the Celtics, who have been dealing with a bunch of injuries and won’t have All-Star Jaylen Brown for the rest of the season.
Boston should be no match for the 76ers, especially Joel Embiid, but Jayson Tatum is always a player who can take over a game.
Even more, the Sixers’ postseason history versus the Celtics’ is terrible. The Sixers haven’t defeated the Celtics in the playoffs since Game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals in the old Boston Garden.
Then again, maybe Boston is the perfect storyline for this 76ers team. When the 2001 Sixers — the last team in franchise history to sport the No. 1 seed — played Reggie Miller and the Pacers in the first round, they eliminated the team that ousted them from the playoffs the previous two seasons.
While Allen Iverson and company won 3-1 in a five-game series, it wasn’t easy. But it prepared Iverson and the Sixers for the grueling seven-game series ahead.
This year’s Celtics team could play a similar role, especially after Boston swept the Sixers last season in the Disney bubble.
Washington Wizards (34-38)
The 76ers also swept the Wizards 3-0 in the regular season, but Washington has prolific scorers Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook.
While Boston limped into the Play-In Tournament, the Wizards have been playing solid basketball since early April.
Beal and Westbrook are capable of giving opposing teams fits. This might not be the most ideal matchup for the 1-seeded Sixers.
Indiana Pacers (34-38)
The Sixers went 2-1 against the Pacers, losing to them less than a week ago. Embiid didn’t play that night, and the Sixers’ offense went super cold in the second half.
Indiana is in the Play-In Tournament despite reportedly going through some inner turmoil. They’ll put up a fight against the Sixers, but this should still be a series that’s no issue for Embiid and Simmons.
Charlotte Hornets (33-39)
Charlotte was another team the Sixers swept in the regular season, but they haven’t played the Hornets since Feb. 3.
The Hornets lost five in a row and seven out of nine to close the regular season. They have exciting rookie LaMelo Ball and feisty guard Terry Rozier, who gave the Sixers some problems in the 2018 playoffs while with Boston.
They also have Gordon Hayward, who was with the Celtics in recent seasons but has missed a lot of time with an injury. It will be something to watch to see if he’s ready for the playoffs, if Charlotte makes it to that point.
While the Hornets have some decent scorers, they have no one with the pedigree, at this point, to cover Embiid.
The Sixers MVP candidate should sting them right out of a potential first-round matchup.
Related
