After opening 3 games, it’s more of the same for the Philadelphia 76ers

Granted it’s been only three games, but the early signs indicate that the Philadelphia 76ers could easily replicate their output from last season.

While not wanting to overreact, there’s already been a distinctively similar feel to the Philadelphia 76ers so far in 2018-19.

After being walloped 105-87 against the Boston Celtics on opening night, the Sixers responded with their own lopsided win, 127-108 over the Chicago Bulls on their home floor. They followed this up by returning to the Wells Fargo Center for a nail-biting 116-115 win over the Orlando Magic.

Considering their season was finished at the hands of the Celtics last season, laying an egg in front a national television audience to kick off the year was incredibly disappointing. However, it was the almost predictable nature of these results that has continued a theme from last season, which is now seemingly becoming a recurring trend.

Granted, going from 28 to 52 wins last season was an incredible accomplishment, and thus clearly put the league on notice as to the potential of the team.

However, the discrepancy in their performance against the elite teams, and those placed further down the standings, was noteworthy. Overall, the Sixers posted a 31-7 record last season against teams who failed to make the playoffs. Conversely, they were 21-23 against teams who made it through to the postseason. Furthermore, the Sixers posted a 3-9 record against teams that finished ahead of them in the standings.

Last year, while the Celtics won 55 games on their way to an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls won just 27 games, while the Magic had just 25 wins for the season, resulting in a change of head coach.

Immediately following their loss to the Celtics, center Joel Embiid stated succinctly:

"“They always kick our ass.”"

While his honesty is refreshing, this statement is still somewhat disturbing from Embiid. Including the last regular season and the playoffs, the Sixers have now dropped eight of their past 10 encounters with the Celtics. Granted, the Sixers are in somewhat of a transition period with the offseason departures of Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova, with the following tweet highlighting their absence on opening night:

However, the Celtics had a pair of returning players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward who were extremely rusty on the night, with 20-year-old forward Jayson Tatum acting predominantly as their go-to option on offense.

To their credit, the Sixers quickly rebounded with a blowout win over the Bulls in their home opener, highlighted by a 64-35 run over the second and third quarters.

Their latest triumph didn’t come without its dramas though, with J.J. Redick‘s go-ahead 3-pointer with 17.7 seconds remaining ultimately giving the Sixers the lead for good. Redick finished with a season-high 31 points featuring eight triples, while center Joel Embiid had his second straight 30-point, 10-rebound game.

Unfortunately, the Sixers were without the services of Ben Simmons for the final three quarters. Having been outright dominant in the opening two games, Simmons left the court with back tightness and would not return.

While overcoming the loss of Simmons was admirable, it still doesn’t shake the notion that the Sixers are a completely dominant side against non-playoff teams, and relatively mediocre against the elite in the league.

Their next opponent, the Detroit Pistons, has gotten off to a 2-0 start, and represents a terrific early season challenge on the road for the Sixers even if they failed to make the playoffs last year.

So while it’s still very early in the 2018-19 campaign, the Sixers still have some way to go in proving they truly belong among the premier teams in the league.