Playoff experience gives Philadelphia 76ers huge advantage over Brooklyn Nets
By Dan Parzych
The Philadelphia 76ers will face the Brooklyn Nets in the opening round of the 2019 NBA playoffs.
After clinching the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers needed to wait until the final day of the regular season to figure out if they would face the Brooklyn Nets or Orlando Magic in the playoffs as the No. 6 seed.
Turns out, the Nets are the winners of the sweepstakes to face the Sixers in the first round after cruising to an easy 113-94 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
When taking into consideration that these two teams split the season series (2-2), one would assume Brooklyn would be able to give Philadelphia a run for their money to potentially pull off a first-round upset.
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However, the Sixers have one major advantage over their division rivals, and that’s experience when it comes to participating in the playoffs.
With all due respect to the Nets since what the team has accomplished this year after previously winning 58 games over their last three seasons is truly amazing, this team could be in for a major wake-up call when taking on the Sixers.
Ever since Philadelphia was embarrassed by the Boston Celtics in the semifinals last year, this team has been on a mission to prove they do in fact have what it takes to be a top contender in the Eastern Conference with a legitimate shot at the NBA Finals.
Philadelphia may have come up short in the summer adding another superstar to play alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, but at least the team came up big with trades during the regular season to bring Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris on board.
As long as all four of these players remain healthy on top of having J.J. Redick at shooting guard, the Sixers arguably have one of the most dangerous starting lineups in the Eastern Conference heading into the playoffs.
This may be the first time that Philadelphia will be participating in the playoffs with this dangerous lineup, but knowing Brett Brown, the Sixers head coach will make sure his boys are ready.
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Plus, with this being the first postseason appearance for the Nets during the Kenny Atkinson era, this team could be in for a rude awakening from an inexperience perspective.
If this is the case, it’s only going to make things that much easier for the Sixers in the first round to help them reach the semifinals for a second year in a row, with hopefully better results than last year.