The NBA is beginning to build some serious momentum towards a return to play and resuming the season in a “bubble site” after being suspended since March 11 due to the novel coronavirus. One of the ideas that have been tossed around has been the idea of having all 30 teams get to at least 70 regular-season games before the postseason begins.
If that is to be the case, the Philadelphia 76ers would have five games left to play after playing 65 games thus far with a 39-26 record. The point for this is to predict who the Sixers may play in these final five games before the playoffs start. There are a few teams for them to play so let’s examine it.
If plan is to get NBA teams to 70 games, here's what is left by team:
ATL- 3
BOS- 6
BKN- 6
CHA- 5
CHI- 5
CLE- 5
DAL- 3
DEN- 5
DET- 4
GSW- 5
HOU- 6
IND- 5
LAC- 6
LAL- 7
MEM- 5
MIA- 5
MIL- 5
MIN- 6
NOP- 6
NYK- 4
OKC- 6
ORL- 5
PHI- 5
PHX- 5
POR- 4
SAC- 6
SAS- 7
TOR- 6
UTA- 6
WAS- 6— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 22, 2020
Game 1-Toronto Raptors
The NBA likes to focus on divisional play. Philadelphia had wrapped up their four games with the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, and Boston Celtics–the other three teams in the Atlantic division–but they have one game left with Toronto. The league would most likely want the Sixers and the Raptors to play to finish up their season series. Toronto leads it 2-1 at the moment.
Game 2-Indiana Pacers
The playoff format could be drastically different this season in an effort to gather more interest, but at the moment, Philadelphia and Indiana are tied for the 5 seed in the East with the Pacers holding the tiebreaker at the moment. Seeding at this point does not matter since there won’t be any home-court advantage, but seeding could still matter with the difference for the Sixers being facing either the Celtics or the Miami Heat in Round 1.
Game 3-Milwaukee Bucks
The Sixers and the Bucks are two of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference and they had one more game scheduled at the Wells Fargo Center before the pandemic had other plans. Milwaukee and Philadelphia would be one of the matchups the league would like to have there.
Game 4-Orlando Magic
Markelle Fultz still has yet to make his return to the Wells Fargo Center since being traded to the Magic at the deadline in 2019. That still won’t be the case here, but it would be fun to have Fultz and the playoff-bound Magic matchup with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid again.
Game 5-Chicago Bulls
The Bulls are not playoff-bound, but the idea of Zach LaVine going up against stars like Simmons and Embiid and battling against Josh Richardson as well would make for some good TV ratings for the league. Also, it gives Furkan Korkmaz another chance to go for another career game. [lawrence-related id=31500,31492,31484]