2018 NBA Playoffs: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Miami Heat preview

With the playoffs bracket officially set in both conferences, here’s a preview of the 3-6 matchup featuring the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat.

Coming into the 2017-18 NBA regular season, the Eastern Conference was labeled a much weaker conference with all signs pointing to the Cleveland Cavaliers representing them in the NBA Finals. While that still may be true, it’s not as clear as previously thought, and there are plenty of intriguing matchups to discuss in the 2018 NBA Playoffs.

Perhaps the most exciting first round series in the East takes places between the 3-seeded Philadelphia 76ers and the 6-seeded Miami Heat. These two teams split their four games in the regular season with all of them being single-digit games and half of them decided by a single possession.

The 76ers (52-30) enter the playoffs on a 16-game winning streak, taking advantage of an easy schedule (only facing three playoff teams in that stretch). They will be without star big man Joel Embiid for the first game unless things change, but that hasn’t stopped this team. The Sixers have won every game without him since he suffered a facial fracture on March 29, and have plenty of talent to hold the fort down until his return.

The Heat (44-38) have been consistent throughout the season, staying near the bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff picturefor most of the year. They’re a veteran team that has 10 players that can log extended minutes if necessary and have different lineup options they can deploy at any time.

We begin our series preview by looking at the individual matchups at each of the starting five.