While it’s about as close to a consensus as one can get in the Boston Celtics media sphere that the Philadelphia 76ers are probably the team the Celtics would least want to face in the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs, it seems the feeling may be mutual.
Philadelphia Inquirer NBA writer David Murphy believes the Sixers ought to do their best to avoid the Massachusetts franchise at the end of the resumed 2019-20 NBA season as well.
The reasoning? It’s a pretty compelling case, when you get down to it — Boston, when healthy, is a very dangerous team.
Despite their record against the Celtics, Murphy is emphatic that Philadelphia do all it can to avoid the Celtics.
“Their first order of business will be winning enough games to avoid facing the Celtics in the first round,” he began. “This might seem like a counter-intuitive place to start, given that the Sixers have won three of their four meetings against Boston this season while losing five of seven to the Heat and Pacers combined.”
This is of course a fair point, but the logic is sound. Why?
“Heading into the shutdown, they’d won 17 of 23 games. During that stretch, they were 8-1 against Eastern Conference opponents and 3-0 against the Heat, Sixers, and Pacers. They also beat the Lakers, Clippers, Thunder, Trail Blazers and Jazz. Five of their seven losses came against Western Conference playoff teams.”
It’s hard to say what version of either team will be suiting up for postseason action by the time the playoffs actually arrive. Both teams have players with injuries that can flare up suddenly and without notice that take time to calm down again.
Both teams have seen chemistry — or its lack — affect play.
It’s conceivable either team could hit their stride and make quick work of the other, depending on how a lot of hard-to-predict factors end up playing out. So, in at least that sense, it may make as much sense for the 76ers to want anyone but Boston as much as the reverse holds true.
“Take away the Celtics’ three losses to the Sixers and they are 6-3 against the East’s Top 6,” notes Murphy. “There’s an argument to be made that they are the greatest threat to the Bucks.”
“Avoiding them in the first round should be a priority,” he argues; no argument here.
Many Celtics fans are inclined to agree given the risk a first-round exit at the hands of Philadelphia represents; such a loss would be a significant black eye for either franchise.
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