4. The race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference
It’s hard to think of a time when the race for the conference’s No. 1 seed meant as much to two teams as it does to the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers in 2021.
If a conference finals matchup seems all but certain for the teams with an identical 36-17 record, it shouldn’t. The Bucks and their vaunted trio lirk just behind these two conference juggernauts and certainly possess the two-way firepower to represent the east in the Finals.
The Nets, Sixers and Bucks represent the best the east has to offer by a wide margin. Anything less than the top seed means having to go through two of them instead of one. If the season ended today, it would be the difference between a second-round slugfest against multiple All-Stars and a matchup with upstairs in either Atlanta or Charlotte.
Assuming Philly holds on against OKC, the Sixers and Nets are about to be tied in the standings again.
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) April 11, 2021
Reminder: Wednesday’s game between them will determine the tiebreaker. The winner essentially gains two games in the standings over the loser.
Should the Nets and Sixers meet in the conference finals, it’s hard to tell who would have the edge. Brooklyn’s offensive firepower makes them the obvious choice, but Philly’s second-ranked defense and ability to thoroughly exploit the Nets’ interior shortcomings closes the gap considerably.
We’ve yet to see the current versions of these two teams battle at full strength. We’ll get something close to it this coming Wednesday. In a potentially even-matched series where the outcome might come down to homecourt advantage, the stakes for a late regular-season game couldn’t be much higher.