2021 NBA Playoffs: Contender or pretender with all 16 teams

2021 NBA Playoffs: Contender or Pretender – Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers are a contender simply by being the top seed; it’s rare for a team to outpace an entire conference and, barring catastrophic injury, not be a contender. The question for the 76ers is if they are among the title favorites.

The path early in the postseason is a mild one, a stroll towards the Conference Finals. There is a clear “Top 3” in the East, and the Sixers avoid the other two until the third round. In the first round they are playing the Washington Wizards, statistically the worst team in the field on either side. They move on to play the winner of the 4-5 series, either the Atlanta Hawks or the New York Knicks. Both teams are in the postseason for the first time with these respective cores.

Can either of those teams give Philadelphia trouble? Absolutely – Julius Randle has been hitting crazy shots all year surrounded by a great defense, and Trae Young is orchestrating a potent offensive attack. But the 76ers will be heavy and deserved favorites in that series.

The question comes in the Conference Finals and beyond. Do the 76ers have the firepower to keep up with the Brooklyn Nets? Can Joel Embiid dominate against the size of the Milwaukee Bucks? How do elite playoff teams scheme for the weaknesses of Ben Simmons? The 76ers were fodder last season with Simmons injured, but two years ago they were four long, slow bounces away from making the Conference Finals.

In the end I think the 76ers are the third-best playoff team in the East, but they have the pieces to win the Conference. They are a contender, but perhaps not quite as dominant of one as their record and standing suggest.

Verdict: Contender