With the Boston Celtics' home loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, the Sixers have clinched the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Sixers have two regular season games remaing: at Miami on Tuesday and vs. Chicago on Wednesday, before starting the 2019 postseason this weekend. Who will they play? That is still to be determined.
- The Brooklyn Nets and aforementioned Magic are both 41-40 with one game to play
- The Detroit Pistons are 39-41, current in the No. 8 seed with two games to play
- The Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat are both 38-42 with two games to play
Schedules:
Nets: vs. MIA
Magic: at Cha
Pistons: vs. MEM, at Nyk
Hornets: at Cle, vs. ORL
Heat: vs. PHI, at Bkl
If the Nets take care of business at beat the Heat at home, they'll secure the No. 6 seed and a first-round matchup against the Sixers.
Philadelphia split their season series with the Nets this season, 2-2, which included a 25-point loss at Brooklyn early in the season. The Sixers have struggled to stop opposing guards this season and Brooklyn has four of them capable of going off at any moment with D'Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert, and Joe Harris.
Dinwiddie had 39 points in 30 minutes a Nets 127-124 win over the Sixers in Philadelphia this season.
Philadelphia will certainly be favorites over the Nets in round one and should be able to handle them in five or six games, but it won't be easy. The Nets enter the playoffs with a ton of talent and a lot of momentum on their side.
Sixers-Nets prediction:
I think the Sixers would win both home games to start the series. The big advantage for Philly is their home court. The Sixers are 30-10 this season at home, while the Nets are 19-22 on the road.
Then, if they split the two road games in Brooklyn, they'll close it out in five. If the Nets win both of their home games, which is possible, I think the Sixers would win in six.
Road to the Finals:
It should be one series at a time for the players and coaches, but for us, we're allowed to look ahead because why not?
A first-round series win over the Nets would likely give the Sixers an Eastern Conference semi-finals series at Toronto, quite possibly their hardest piece of the puzzle. If they can get by the Raptors, the Sixers will all but certainly have an Eastern Conference Finals series at Milwaukee or home against the Celtics, a series that all fans should be rooting for.
