Is this the Philadelphia 76ers' year?
That's not the first time you've read that sentence; the Sixers have never been short on talent in recent years, whether superstar Joel Embiid was paired with Ben Simmons and Jimmy Butler or James Harden and Tyrese Maxey.
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But Doc Rivers has yet to get Philly over the hump, with second-round exits in back-to-back years. So, general manager Daryl Morey went out and assembled perhaps his most talented team yet, adding P.J. Tucker, De’Anthony Melton, Danuel House Jr., Montrezl Harrell to the nucleus of Embiid, Harden, Maxey and Tobias Harris.
It all looks good on paper, but do the Sixers have enough to get past the Boston Celtics, who are 8-1 in the postseason against their Atlantic Division rival since 2018? Let's break down a talented but unproven Philly squad.
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Editor's Note: Can the Celtics repeat as East champions? Throughout this week, we're examining the five East teams that have the best chance of reaching the 2023 NBA Finals. Today's team: the Philadelphia 76ers.
Sixers' 2021-22 results
- 51-31 record
- Fourth in Eastern Conference
- Lost in second round to Miami Heat (six games)
Sixers' 2022-23 NBA title odds (via PointsBet)
Boston Celtics
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18/1 (ninth overall, fifth in East)
Notable offseason acquisitions, departures
Acquisitions: P.J. Tucker, De’Anthony Melton, Danuel House Jr., Montrezl Harrell
Departures: Danny Green, DeAndre Jordan, Paul Millsap
Projected starting five (2021-22 stats)
- PG: Tyrese Maxey (17.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.3 apg, 48.5% FG, 42.7% 3PT)
- SG: James Harden (21.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 10.5 apg, 40.2% FG, 32.6% 3PT)
- SF: Tobias Harris (17.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.5 apg, 48.2% FG, 36.7% 3PT)
- PF: P.J. Tucker (7.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.1 apg, 48.4% FG, 41.5% 3PT)
- C: Joel Embiid (30.6 ppg, 11.7 rpg, 4.2 apg, 49.9% FG, 37.1% 3PT)
Matchups with Celtics in 2022-23
- Oct. 18: Sixers at Celtics
- Feb. 8, 2023: Sixers at Celtics
- Feb. 25, 2023: Celtics at Sixers
- April 4, 2023: Celtics at Sixers
How likely are Sixers to finish ahead of C's in East?
Postseason woes aside, there's a very real path to Philly earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Sixers went 14-7 with Harden in their lineup last season, and the Embiid-Harden duo posted a 15.9 net rating, good for fourth in the NBA. Embiid and Harden should be even more lethal running their pick-and-roll game this season, especially since their supporting cast is much deeper.
Melton, Tucker and House are all capable 3-point shooters who can stretch the floor, while Harrell is a workhorse who can lighten Embiid's rebounding and defensive loads.
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Much depends on the health of Embiid, who has missed at least 20 games in two of the last three seasons. Rivers should manage Embiid's minutes carefully, which likely will prevent the Sixers from winning 60 games.
But if Embiid and Harden don't miss significant time, Philly is absolutely talented enough to vault past Boston and Milwaukee in the East standings.
Who wins in a playoff series: Boston or Philadelphia?
Whether the Sixers can exorcise their playoff demons -- against Boston in particular -- is another story.
Harden's well-documented postseason struggles cost Philly dearly in 2022, while the Heat exposed the Sixers' lack of depth in their second-round series. Philly addressed its depth issues, though, and Embiid would present a (literally) massive problem for a relatively small Celtics team whose starting center and power forward, Robert Williams and Al Horford, both stand at 6-foot-9.
Then again, the C's also got deeper this offseason, with Malcolm Brogdon brought in as a starting-caliber point guard on the second unit and Sam Hauser showing promise as a knock-down shooter.
We could see this series going the distance, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown trading haymakers with Embiid and Harden. But Boston's elite defense would find a way to get stops in key moments to win their sixth consecutive playoff series over Philly.
Prediction: Celtics in seven