Philadelphia 76ers: Can the Sixers take down a favorite in the playoffs?

The Philadelphia 76ers are a dangerous young team playing well at just the right time; does that mean they could play spoiler in the playoffs?

The Philadelphia 76ers are finally a team you can take seriously. They are currently at 36 wins on the season, and Joel Embiid has played enough quality minutes to make them a quality team. Even when Embiid is not on the floor, Ben Simmons has been able to handle the offense over the past few months.

Then there are the recent signings of Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova, which gives the Sixers more shooters. You have to like what they have going on so far. But the question is, can they compete with teams like the Raptors, Celtics, and Cavaliers?

First, looking at the remainder of their schedule, they have about five or six games that can be considered losable. Against opponents like the Cavs, Pacers, TWolves, and others, while they have a plethora of winnable games against tanking teams like the Magic and the Hawks. At the worst, they should finish around 44 wins.

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If we look at the Sixers to the relation of the top three teams in the East, which one would give the Sixers the most trouble? Well if we look at the Celtics, they would have the best chance at defending Embiid in the pick and roll, with their good pick and roll defenders in Al Horford and Aron Baynes.

Also, Baynes is one of the strongest players in the NBA and would be able to handle Embiid’s strength. One issue with this is that Embiid could take his game to the perimeter and beat them that way. It would be a strategy that the Celtics would have to consider since it may be better off to dare Embiid shoot, then to control him under the basket. The strengths of Embiid’s post work and his ability to pass from the post is very elite that would give a team like Celtics some fits.

When it comes to Ben Simmons, the Celtics would just have to have dare Ben Simmons to shoot. They would most likely lay off of him and defend the basket if they give him a straight line to the basket it’s a guaranteed score. Brad Stevens should be able to come up with a scheme that would confuse Simmons to the point that he would make mistakes.

For the Cavs, they have an ideal center to defend Embiid in Tristen Thompson. Thompson has some strength and perimeter defense to handle Joel Embiid. The best bet for Cavs to beat the Sixers would be just to outscore them and to bring extra defenders around Embiid. Players like Larry Nance or Kevin Love would not be able to handle Embiid so they would have to double team him.

Overall the Cavs have a bad defense, and they need hope that players like Clarkson and Hood would be able to defend players. Then you know they just have to let Ben Simmons shoot the ball because of inconstancies outside the paint.

Now for the Raptors, Valanciunas and Poeltl would most likely get outmuscled by Embiid. There isn’t another option for the Raptors when defending Embiid outside of Ibaka. The thing with Raptors is that they are a very good defensive team. They should be a good team at executing double teams and switching off of other players on defense. There are plenty of players on their defense that can swallow up the court like Siakam and Anunoby.

It would be interesting see if a 23-year-old Joel Embiid and rookie Ben Simmons can win in a playoff series. They would need to dominate throughout the series to contend with the top 3 teams in the East. Embiid shouldn’t have any problems with any potential stamina issues since there is no back to back games in the playoffs. Even though he is having a career year in minutes, he hasn’t had any games where he was used for long periods of time.

Over the past month, he only had one game where he played more than 35 minutes. Most likely Embiid will play for more than 35 minutes in the playoffs if they are in an elimination game.

As of right now, they would either play the Pacers or Cavaliers, and both of those teams are highly beatable. Sure, LeBron can go on a whole other level and most likely Embiid won’t be able to outplay LeBron. The Sixers were able to handle Cavs last time they played each other. Both teams were trading blows, and sixers were knocking down shots thanks to J.J. Redick who was on fire that night. However, nights like that won’t happen all the time under LeBron’s watch.

Now, will they be able to beat teams like Celtics or the Raptors? Probably not but they sure can make them feel uncomfortable. There is potential that they can take those teams to 7 games. But they don’t have it factor player on their roster. There is no player on the roster that the young players can go to when they are in a crunch.

Also, the severe lack of 3 point shot from Ben Simmons could bite them in the postseason. There are enough little things that keep this team from winning a series against a top tier team.

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So, if the Sixers get a four seed and versus a team like the Heat, Pacers, and Wizards, they will surely beat those teams. But when facing a team like the Celtics, Cavs, and Raptors, they are going to have their woes. Overall, they should be a tuff team to play in the playoffs and make Eastern Conference Title contenders sweat.

Philadelphia 76ers: Can the Sixers bring down a top tier team in the playoffs?

By Codi Benner | Mar 13, 2018

The Philadelphia 76ers are a dangerous young team playing well at just the right time; does that mean they could play spoiler in the playoffs?

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