The Sixers Next 7 Games Are A Nice Opportunity
The Philadelphia 76ers have been a bit of an afterthought in the Philadelphia sports scene over the past couple of months. I don’t think it’s unwarranted that they have been, considering the Eagles rule the roost in this town, and they’re a bona fide Super Bowl contender who have been careening towards the top seed in their conference. Good football in Philly takes precedent over just about everything else, but as the NFL regular season winds down, it’s certainly time to take notice of what the Sixers have been doing lately. To give you the TLDR, Joel Embiid is once again an MVP candidate, healthy James Harden looks reinvigorated, Tyrese Maxey is back from a broken foot, and the Sixers are 8-2 in their last 10 games. They’re only 5th in the Eastern Conference, but the next 7 games give fans a nice opportunity to jump in on the Sixers’ hot streak, and an even better opportunity for the team to continue their strong stretch they’ve been on.
The Sixers have been playing well, but it’s always easier to stack wins against lesser opponents. Well, the good news is their next 7 games are against some very beatable opponents. Embiid and company will take on the Indiana Pacers tonight at the WFC, and while Indy is 21-17 and only 1 spot behind the Sixers in the East, they’re not a contender to the level of Philly. The Sixers are then visited by the 16-21 Bulls, play an away and home with the worst team in the NBA in the Detroit Pistons, and are visited by the 16-21 Thunder. Not only are those all winnable games, outside of the Pacers, they should be near LOCK wins. I get that the NBA has weird losses all the time, but the Sixers are certainly capable of running of Ws in the next 5. After that, they’ll head on a West Coast road trip that will prove difficult on the back end, but starts with games at Utah (10th in the West) and the Los Angeles Lakers (13th in the West). There are your next 7 games, each and every one that should see the Sixers as favorites in the contest.
We aren’t yet into a situation where the Sixers are standings watching, but in a pretty stacked Eastern Conference, every easy stretch of a schedule you get is one that you need to take advantage of. The Sixers have been hot lately, and are now presented with one of those stretches of their schedule. It’s also a perfect time to win over the attention of the city with the Eagles very possibly heading towards a bye week, the Phillies’ offseason slowing down, the Flyers still being devoid of interest, and the NBA nearing the meat of their season. With a team playing as well as the Sixers are, it could be a real chance over these next 7 games to make some waves in their conference, and in the NBA in general.
