Reason No. 3 why the Philadelphia 76ers will win the East: I trust the Sixers’ defense and health more than I trust the Nets’ offense and health
In short, it might not be as complicated as we all might believe it to be. It could simply come down to whether you trust the Philadelphia 76ers or the Brooklyn Nets more. Taking it a step further, do you believe in the Sixers and their ability to stay healthy, along with their elite defense, or the Nets and their ability to get and stay healthy, and their premier offense?
In each of these two aspects, it’s difficult to trust either of these teams right now. For one the Nets haven’t been healthy all season long and their big three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden have only played together in seven games this season.
To add more context, Harden (who was acquired in January) has played in more games this season with the Nets than Durant has. And Kyrie Irving, well that’s an entirely different conversation. When they’re all healthy, their offense has the chance to be historically good. Their defense, well it’s a good thing that their offense is historically good when they’re healthy.
The Sixers have been relatively healthy this season and Embiid has only missed 18 games this season. Still, he’s been playing at an MVP level and Philly has an elite defense. They rank second in the league on that end of the floor and have a defensive player of the year candidate in Simmons.
At least for this season, I trust Philly’s health and availability right now heading into the playoffs and I’m always going to favor an elite defense over an elite offense in the NBA. I’m all-in on the Philadelphia 76ers and believe this team is going to win the Eastern Conference this season. So should you.