Philadelphia 76ers Cruise Into Playoffs With 16th Straight Victory

Let’s see a show of hands of those who, at the beginning of the 2017-18 NBA season, thought the Philadelphia 76ers would be a higher seed in the NBA Playoffs than the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the 2016-17 season, the 76ers were just 28-54, the second worst record in the Eastern Conference. This year, they finished 52-30, the third best record in the East behind Toronto (59-23) and Boston (55-27). Cleveland was fourth at 50-32.

Not only did the 76ers make the post season as the third seed in the Eastern Conference, they also go into the playoffs as the hottest team in the NBA. Philadelphia is on a 16 game winning streak, and closed out the regular season by beating the Milwaukee Bucks in Philadelphia. The Bucks have been inconsistent this season, but they are no slouches, reaching the playoffs as the #7 seed in the East, but Philadelphia blew out the Deer 130-95 for that 16th straight victory.

The 76ers have remained hot even though center and leading scorer (22.9 points per game) and rebounder (11.0 per game) Joel Embiid has been out since leaving Philadelphia’s March 28th game with an orbital bone fracture. Embiid has been working out with a protective mask, but may not be ready for the first game of the playoffs on April 14th. They do have point guard Ben Simmons, the number one overall pick in the 2016 draft, who missed all of the ’16-’17 season with a broken foot. He played all 81 games this season, averaging 15.8 points per game, 8.2 assists, and 8.1 rebounds.

Philadelphia hosts the Miami Heat, the #6 seed, in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Saturday April 14th.