NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets wrapped up their regular seasons on Sunday when the Sixers knocked off the Nets, 134-105, at Barclays Center.
Philadelphia finished 54-28 and earned the playoffs’ No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference while the Nets finished 45-37 and earned the No. 6 seed.
These two teams will face each other in the postseason’s first round beginning on April 15 at 1 p.m. EDT. The Nets are a much different team than they were at the beginning of the season. They traded superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and are now built around Mikal Bridges and a cast of versatile players who can play both ends of the floor.
As the Sixers prepare to face the Nets, big man Paul Reed kept it real when beginning to think about Brooklyn.
“I think they’re a good team,” Reed began when discussing the Nets. “They switch a lot which I like I can use that to my advantage with the way I play. Defensively, I feel like — tonight they didn’t have a full roster so we didn’t really get their best look, but in the times we played them previously, we’ve been able to handle them pretty well. I think we got the better team, to be honest, and we should be able to come out and get the win.”
As the Sixers focus on the playoffs, they are looking to get over the hump and go on a deep run. They have been bounced in the second round in four of the previous five seasons. They look to take advantage of the opportunity that’s been presented in front of them.
Philadelphia will have a tough path to get to the finals. It likely has to go through both the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference, but they have the talent to get there. Joel Embiid and James Harden have built their chemistry and are an unstoppable duo. That will be a key factor this postseason.
“I’m super excited,” Reed added. “I feel like this year is gonna be a much better year for us as a team to excel because we have better team chemistry, team dynamic now, and I feel like we can really make it to the finals.”
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