NBA Report Cards: Celtics pass with flying colors; Warriors lack an identity

Philadelphia 76ers

Regular season grade: B-

This season has truly been a tale of three chapters for the Philadelphia 76ers. And there still may be a fourth yet to be written heading into the NBA Playoffs. The Sixers got off to an amazing start to the year even without James Harden. A Joel Embiid midway through the year, and everything changes for Philadelphia. Now that Embiid has returned, the Sixers are playing some of their best basketball of the year once again. There's an argument to be made that if it wasn't for an injury to Embiid, the Sixers would easily have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

The Sixers get a "B-" for their performance this season. The reason they don't get a "B+" or an "A" is because the team didn't handle the Embiid injury well at all. Without Embiid, the Sixers went 15-27 this season. That's the biggest reason why the Sixers were fighting hard to make it out of a Play-In Tournament position toward the end of the season.

The Sixers might be one of the most dangerous teams in the East heading into the playoffs but it's unfortunate they couldn't put themselves in a better season during the regular season. Because of that, Philly may once again falter to an early playoff exit.