Bienvenidos a Philly: Sixers Trounce Hornets, Will Host Miami on Sunday
It was always going to be Sixers vs. Heat.
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Sixers Record: 52-30, 4th in the East
Say this for our Philadelphia 76ers: With home court advantage in the playoffs on the line and a very unworthy team on the other side of the tipoff, they did not let any (understandable) "feels like a loss" sentiments linger long in Game 82 of the season. The game was close for about six minutes, I suppose -- not even long enough for the not-WFC crowd to get in booing formation, really -- before a back-to-back pair of Shake Milton threes opened it up late in the first. Joel Embiid took over from there, amassing a 27/10/5/4 stat line through three quarters and taking off the fourth -- as did Tobias Harris, who got inexplicably irate at a third-quarter foul call and ended up getting himself booted for the game. No matter: not even 12 minutes straight of Zhaire Smith/Kyle O'Quinn pick-and-roll could've let Charlotte back in this one. Final score: Sixers 123, Hornets 94.
And if you were waiting for an official Jamal Crawford Game... this probably wasn't it, just because the thing was well over before he started blowing on his hands in the fourth. Still, if you need a Game 82 mop-up guy: that's clearly Jamal O'Clock: Between his usual six-minute run in the first half, and his 15-minute run to close this one out, he got up a staggering 22 shots -- remember a million years ago when all he seemed to want to do was pass? -- and hit 11 of 'em, ending with a game-and-season-high 28 on the night. After his last three with 2:20 to go, he started popping his jersey to the roaring home crowd, bellowing at the top of his lungs, "THAT'S WHY THEY BROUGHT ME HERE!" Actually he didn't do that at all, he just kinda shrugged and quietly dapped up a cackling Mike Scott and KOQ. Nonetheless, that *does* seem to essentially be why we brought him here.
Anyway! The Game 82 win brings us to 52-30 for the season -- after all the goddamn drama, one win better than last year and the same record as the year before -- and, with Miami's hate-to-see-it home loss to the Raptors on Tuesday, the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers will host the Heat in the 3:00 game on Sunday, most likely for the chance to face the top-seeded Bucks (who closed out their 67-15 dream season last night against the Nets, though with Khris Middleton still on the sidelines) in the second round. With the possible exception of OKC/Houston's own 4-5 series out West, most are considering Miami-Philly the must-watch series of these playoffs' first round.
Of course, the biggest question still remains: What will Ben Simmons' availability be for Philly these playoffs? Everyone keeps saying the right things about his progress, and he's looking pretty normal from what we've seen in shootarounds and scrimmages, but his official status still hadn't risen above "doubtful" through the end of the regular season, and no one on the Sixers will commit to him being in the mix for Game One (or Game Anything) of the first round. (Matisse Thybulle appears game-readier, at least, telling reporters in the locker room last night that he would've played if the game actually mattered -- forgetting, perhaps, that competition aside, this game did actually sorta matter.)
"I wish I knew what to tell you guys, really," Brett Brown swore to the media from his post-game presser, still cradling the team bell (which Tobi and JoJo insisted Brett ring last night) like it was the Larry O'B. "Obviously, we'd all feel a lot more confident going into that Game One against a really good Miami team with our No. 25 out there to give the ball to on the first possession. And we're hopeful that we'll have Ben for the series. But over these next three days that we have off, we're just gonna have to trust our medical staff and Ben's own people to see where he's at, see how far he's able to go... and then we'll just have to see from there." (The "Ben's own people" line caused a minor flare-up on Sixers Twitter, though it's hardly the first time Brett's referenced the fact that the team's doctors don't seem to have Simmons' full and unquestioned trust -- can't imagine why.)
Somehow during the NBA's awful H.O.R.S.E. competition, a brief Twitter flurry between Spike and JJ Redick resulted in a few jabs back and forth, and an unfulfilled promise from Redick. What will be the consequences?
So a big fat TBD on that one, obviously. Still, it's been heartening to watch this Sixers squad round off their last 20 games of the season with a 15-5 record even without Ben Simmons, playing with a coherence and confidence they often seemed unable to muster at full-strength. That signature road win eluded them all calendar year -- the only playoff team the Sixers have beaten in their own building in 2020 is the 38-44 Brooklyn Nets -- but for one round at least, that doesn't have to matter. Clean up the bathrooms, put out the good china, and make sure there's plenty of extra bedding just in case: The Philadelphia 76ers are hosting a playoff series, and it's time this Sunday to show our old friend Jimmy Butler the famous Philly Hospitality he's come to know and love us for.