SB Nation Reacts: 86% of Sixers fans expect team to make NBA Finals

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged in Philadelphia 76ers fans, and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.

According to the latest SB Nation Reacts survey, a full 100 percent of responding 76ers fans are confident in the team with the playoffs set to tip off for Philly on Sunday afternoon. That level of confidence has held steady for most of the season.

Perhaps the biggest bode of confidence bears itself out in our next polling question. We asked Sixers fans whether the Philadelphia 76ers will reach the 2020-21 NBA Finals and 86% of fans voted that they will indeed make it to the Finals. That leaves 14% of fans doubtful that the Sixers can make it all the way, likely seeing the Brooklyn Nets as too potent an offense to overcome.

Now, it’s not just the players on the court that Sixers fans believe in. Head coach Doc Rivers has finished up his first regular season in Philadelphia, coaching the Sixers to a no. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2000-01 when Allen Iverson went on to carry Philly to a Finals appearance. For his part in calling the shots this season, 71% of Sixers fans have assigned Rivers an A grade. The remaining 29% of voters gave Doc a B grade.

With such high confidence in the team, anything short of a Finals appearance is likely a disappointment for most Sixers fans.

A handful of play-in teams have already seen their playoff run come to an end. The Hornets loss ended their season, but it’s not the end of exciting times in Charlotte. Point guard LaMelo Ball was picked by 52 percent of NBA fans as the player who should win the Rookie of the Year award. Ball beat out Minnesota Timberwolves’ top pick Anthony Edwards 36 percent and Sacramento Kings rookie Tyrese Haliburton who earned 12 percent.

Ball gets my vote for Rookie of the Year as well. Handing an offense over to a rookie point guard is a big ask. Charlotte may not have made any playoff noise, but for the first time in a long while, things are looking up. That’s primarily thanks to Ball and his ability to produce as a rookie.

The Utah Jazz had the best regular season of any team in the league, landing the no. 1 seed in the Western Conference and claiming the NBA’s best record. Rudy Gobert has played a huge role in their success. The Jazz big man was the top pick among fans, with 49 percent of the vote, to win Defensive Player of the Year.

To vote in the Reacts surveys and have your voice heard each week, sign up here.