By Jay Rich
HHV Sports Senior Staff Writer
The Philadelphia 76ers have set a franchise record for wins in a row, after beating the Hawks, in Atlanta. That 121-113 win gives them 15 straight wins, and 51 wins, on the season. Coming into this season, everybody expected the Sixers to be good, but they are the third seed.
Putting it into perspective, the Sixers not only beat the Cavs, but that win placed them at third, in the East, to Cleveland’s fourth. The Cavs own the tiebreaker, but that might not matter. History says never count the Cavs out, but Ben Simmons and company are playing no games.
A team built for the future, the Sixers are performing much better than early season projections. Their win total actually isn’t too far off from the second seeded Celtics, even though they are locked in at the second seed. The Sixers have a solid roster of guys, each of which can take over a game at any point in time.
Coming into tonight’s game, Ben Simmons was questionable to play, so JJ Redick stepped up, and ended up leading the Sixers in scoring. Ersan İlyasova also stepped up big, adding 26 points, to Redick’s 28 points, making it a balanced effort, as Marco Belinelli also chipped in 20 points. Granted, this win was against the Hawks, but still the Sixers could have chosen to take this game off, but they showed their resolve, and came through with a win.
During this part of the season, momentum is everything, and even if the Sixers drop their next game, or even end up falling to the fourth seed, it won’t matter much. Coming into the playoffs, the Cavs are struggling, more than they normally do, and the Celtics are injured. Meanwhile, the Raptors have recently gone on a winning streak, but their momentum cooled, the moment they played Cleveland, a few weeks back, losing 129-132.
If the playoff picture remained how it is, the Sixers would play Milwaukee Bucks, in the first round, a team they matchup very well with. Either them, or the Wizards, or Heat, who they could wind up playing, regardless of seeding, or how they next two days play out, are teams Philadelphia can easily dispatch. The Raptors are a much stronger team, than in previous seasons, but catching the Sixers, right now, might prove to be costly for them.
Already, Stephen A. Smith was saying he believes the Sixers WILL be in the Eastern Conference Finals. That means, one of the three, Raptors, Cavs, and Celtics, will lose in the second round. History may indicate the Raptors might blow it, but the Cavs come into the postseason struggling, and the Celtics are without Kyrie Irving, which slows them down, but doesn’t actually hurt them.
Ultimately, this whole thing might boil down to momentum, and it’s clearly on Philadelphia’s side. This team is performing way better than expected, and very well could beat Cleveland, by simply winning their next game, and then the Cavs losing, as seeding won’t have them facing off, this season, unless a 4 seed Cavs beats Toronto. But, the Sixers can definitely beat Boston, plus Kyrie Irving will indeed be out.
Long, long, story short, look out for the Philadelphia 76ers, as this team is definitely going to the second round, at the very least, and their second round opponent isn’t safe.
Watch highlights from the Philadelphia 76ers’ fifteen game winning streak below:
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