4. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Philadelphia 76ers
The LeBron James comparisons have hounded Ben Simmons for most of his basketball life. Why not flesh them out on the biggest stage of all?
Simmons should win Rookie of the Year, as he’s joined LeBron as one of the league’s nightly triple-double threats.
James, meanwhile, is setting career highs across the board in his fifteenth season. While it’s been another remarkable year for him personally, the Cavaliers have shown signs of losing their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference crown.
It could be the perfect time for Simmons and the young 76ers core to knock them off their perch in the postseason. In their first season with Simmons and Joel Embiid both healthy they’ve shattered expectations, winning 43 games and showing no signs of slowing down.
They have the fifth best net rating in the league on the season (plus-4.1). When Simmons and Embiid are both on the floor, that rises to plus-15.8 – the second best rating for a two-man lineup.
Cleveland were forced to shuffle the deck at the trade deadline as their ageing lineup struggled. The revamped Cavaliers have seen some improvements, but on current form they’re far from the team that reached the last three NBA Finals.
They have the third-worst defensive rating in the entire league (109.7), worse than the tanking Bulls and Hawks. Maybe James will go to another level on that end in the playoffs, and drag his teammates up with him.
It certainly wouldn’t be the first time he’s done that, but fatigue after seven straight finals appearances is surely setting in. A fresh-faced team full of playoff debutant’s could be a serious threat to the King’s throne.
This could be the ultimate “passing of the torch” series, and The Process could claim it’s biggest scalp yet.