With the Indiana Pacers toppling the Miami Heat yesterday, the Sixers have officially clinched their first playoff berth since the 2011-2012 season. This following a pretty confident win over the Minnesota Timberwolves for the Sixers on Saturday.
The last time the Sixers were in the playoffs, they deployed a rotation that saw starts for Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand and Spencer Hawes, and utilized bench pieces Lou Williams, Jodie Meeks, Thaddeus Young and Lavoy Allen. Wow. How far we have come.
Now that the Sixers have secured a spot in the playoffs, clinching a home playoff series is objective #1 on their to-do list. Followed by resting Joel Embiid and limiting his minutes when possible at #2.
The Sixers are basically tied with the Pacers for 4th place, so Sixers fans need to keep a close eye on Indiana. It’s true that the Sixers have a better winning percentage than the Pacers at the moment, but both teams are technically 11 games behind the conference leading Toronto Raptors. It’s worth noting that the 3 seed can’t be ruled out: the Sixers are just 1.5 games back of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
10 games remain on the Sixers schedule, and those 10 games shouldn’t be too challenging. In the final 2.5 weeks of the season, the Sixers will face off against the following tankers (or teams with basically no reason to win): the Knicks, Hawks (twice), Hornets, Nets, Pistons and Mavericks. Their other 3 opponents are the Nuggets (tonight), the Cavaliers and the Bucks.
Playoffs, baby! Playoffs!