Back in December, when veteran forward Danny Green was acquired by the Philadelphia 76ers in a multi-player trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, he realized upon arrival that the franchise had championship-caliber talent.
But finishing the regular season as the East's top seed? Green didn't exactly see that coming.
"A new coaching staff, a new organization, I didn't expect us to be a number-one seed this year," Green told the Tiki and Tierney show on Friday. "I thought we would be top-four. But we put it together quicker than I expected. I knew we had good tools. I knew we needed a lot of veteran leadership, a lot of maturity. But we did it, and Doc [Rivers] and the coaching staff and the front office did a great job putting it together and making that process happen faster than I thought it would. So, we've over-exceeded my expectations for the regular season.
"But in the playoffs, it's business time. We've got to make a statement, and continue to do what we do, and not let the season get to us and think it's okay, that's enough. That's not enough. We don't always want to be the number-one seed in the regular season. We want to win a championship and be the last team standing. So, we've got to continue to mature and get better, build momentum, and hopefully let that carry over into this first series and we have to focus on Washington."
Philadelphia, which recorded its highest winning percentage (.681) since the 2000-01 season, will open the NBA playoffs at home on Sunday afternoon against the eight-seed Washington Wizards (1 p.m. ET tip). According to FiveThirtyEight's most recent season projections, the Sixers have a league-high 46-percent chance to reach the NBA Finals, and a 22-percent chance (second-best) to win their first championship in 38 years.
Green started in all 69 games he played this season, and averaged 9.5 points per game with 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists.
The entire conversation between Green and Tiki and Tierney can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Tiki and Tierney Show on Twitter @TikiAndTierney and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.