76ers MUST Go Hard in the Final Two Games

Posted by Dannie | April 13th, 2008

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Sunday’s top performance goes to the Detroit Pistons bench. Why? In a seemingly meaningless game for the Pistons versus Toronto, the Detroit reserves were able to hold off the Raptors in the 4^th quarter to secure the victory. Something they weren’t able to do against the 76ers earlier this week. More importantly that dropped Toronto to 40-40, tied with the Sixers for that critical 6^th playoff position.

With that said our hometown team still has work to do in the final two games of the regular season. The sixth seed is on the line, and they need to build some momentum going into the postseason. The Sixers haven’t lost 3 games in a row since late January, and now is not the time for the 76ers to hit a slide. With Toronto right on their hip, it’s vital Mo has the team fully focused on the prize.

Tie Breaker Goes to Toronto

The Sixers are 1-3 vs. Toronto this season so a tie after the final regular season game is no good. Toronto had the luxury of playing the Sixers before they got hot and really started clicking. All 4 games, including two in the first 6 games of the season (both 76er loses), came before the Sixers went on that torrid 30-game stretch, going 22-8.

Remaining Schedules

Philadelphia 76ers

Cleveland - LeBron will be in town tomorrow, and I have center court seats to “be a witness” for the first time since he entered the league. Iguodala and Young will likely take turns defending James and will need to keep him somewhat in check if they want to win this game. I’ll have a game recap tomorrow night.
@ Charlotte - A game I fully expect the Sixers to win, and win easily. They have beaten the Bobcats the two previous games this season, one of which was a 94-64 shellacking.

Toronto Raptors

Miami - This is as close to a guarenteed victory as you can get in the NBA. Especially when you consider the game will be the second of a back-to-back road games for Miami, traveling from Cleveland to Toronto.
@ Chicago - Another perceived cake walk for Toronto considering how utterly dissappointing the Bulls have been this season. But Chicago still has enough talent to play spoiler, and Philly will be rooting for them to do just that in the final game of the season.

Let’s Keep it Real

I’ve talked about how expectations for this team have risen dramatically over the last 30 games and fans should expect this team to compete and win most nights now. But regular season games are singular events where the cliché “on any night any team can win” is most prevelant. The playoffs are another story where the weaker teams are weeded out by the best 4 of 7 format.

It’s clear Detroit is a much better team than the 76ers and you probably won’t get much argument from Sixers fans that Orlando is a better team as well. But I like our chances significantly more against the Magic.

The reality: If the 76ers end up with the 7^th seed, their chance of beating Detroit in a 7-game series is about as good as Pete dunking a regulation basketball on a 10-foot hoop!