The Philadelphia 76ers were sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference for a majority of the 2020-21 season, but a recent 4-game losing skid dropped them to the No. 2 seed behind the Brooklyn Nets.
The good thing for the Sixers is they have a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way, and they own the tiebreaker over Brooklyn for that top seed. The Nets are a half game ahead of Philadelphia with nine games left for the Sixers, and they still have a chance to earn that spot.
A big reason they went on that four-game skid, which included two bad road losses to the Milwaukee Bucks, is they did not have Ben Simmons. They were missing their star leader and it cost them in the standings.
“Definitely frustrating because those two games are important,” said Simmons of the Bucks losses. “For me, I’m glad I’m back now. We have a few games left to really get that first seed and I think we can do it. I think if everyone’s healthy and able to play, I think we were able to get that. We got to take control and get that one seed.”
Philadelphia is 25-7 at home in the 2020-21 season with four home games left in the regular season. With fans back in the building, the Sixers players understand how important it is to lock up that top seed. They need to have home-court advantage for their playoff run.
“Our goal is to get the first seed whatever it takes,” said Furkan Korkmaz. “We want to have the home-court advantage. It’s gonna be really important and we know our fans are gonna help us a lot. Especially in the playoffs, we know it’s a totally different atmosphere.”
On the flip side, the Sixers cannot start scoreboard watching. They have to focus on themselves and what they can control.
“We can’t control what Brooklyn or Milwaukee do; we’ve already played them,” said Simmons. “For us, it’s about controlling what we can do and that’s winning games no matter who we play.”
The Sixers still have some issues they need to figure out before the playoffs begin, and they will need to focus on all of that before the games really begin for them. That is why they need to be able to focus on themselves over the final nine games of the season.
“In some ways, I do look when I’m thinking about it, I’m not gonna lie, but it’s not anything that’s in front of my brain right now,” said coach Doc Rivers. “I’m so more concerned about us, just keep pushing us to get better and I always think it’ll take care of itself.”
Philadelphia will begin a three-game road trip on Sunday when it takes on the San Antonio Spurs.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f1jxkahtwnvzepyp image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[lawrence-related id=45414,45411,45408]