NBA Playoffs 2012: Sadly, No One Will Care About Sixers Beating Bulls

Usually when a No. 8 seed beats a No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs, there's a lot of talk and attention that surrounds that team, considering it's happened only a handful of times in NBA history.

It's not the case this year when talking about the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Sixers have a 3-1 lead over a Chicago Bulls team that doesn't have reigning league MVP Derrick Rose or starting center Joakim Noah in the lineup. Any team—maybe even the Charlotte Bobcats—could defeat a franchise that doesn't have two of its main contributors.

OK, maybe the Bobcats is a bit of a stretch.

Nevertheless, Philadelphia has more than taken advantage of the situation and is now one win away from knocking out one of the perennial favorites in the Eastern Conference—with or without Rose and Noah—and will be more than likely playing the Boston Celtics in the next round.

Whether or not we believe it to be fair, the Sixers are going to knock out the Bulls sooner or later, but the amount of care and attention they're going to get when they deliver the knockout blow to Chicago will be as small as the size of an ant's brain.

And no matter how you look at the situation, it truly is sad that this will go in the record books and it's well earned, but this "upset" won't mean much.

The Memphis Grizzlies shocked the world last year by dominating the San Antonio Spurs, even without their best player, Rudy Gay. And although it might not have been the biggest upset in playoff history, it was significant enough that it catapulted the Grizzlies to who they are today: an up-and-coming contender in the West.

Considering how they started this lockout-shortened season by compiling one of the best records in basketball, Philadelphia shouldn't even be playing Chicago right now. They were almost the joke of the league for a good portion of the last two months of the year.

Now I have a good idea what the majority of you are thinking right about now. You're thinking about the last time there was a lockout-shortened season, and you're thinking of the team that represented the East in the Finals that year: the No. 8 seed New York Knicks from 1999.

Before we jump to conclusions here, reality needs to come forth in this situation. The '99 Knicks were one of the more talented teams in the league at that time and they finally got in a groove come playoff time by beating three quality teams to get to the NBA Finals.

So the bar has been set pretty high in terms of results in lockout-shortened seasons.

The only way that people will care about the 2012 Philadelphia 76ers is if they make it to the NBA Finals, which means that after they beat Chicago, they'd have to beat the Boston Celtics and, more than likely, the Miami Heat.

Unless Andre Iguodala can start scoring 25 points a game and Spencer Hawes continues to play at a high level, then the Sixers won't stand much of a chance going forward.

They do have a quality team full of depth and athleticism, but no one on that team can truly take over a game, and that's what you need in the playoffs to be successful.

The Sixers made a resounding statement after Game 2, but once Noah went down the next game, it's as if the roles were reversed and Philly was the No. 1 seed.

It's an accomplishment that will not go unnoticed, and Philadelphia fans should truly be proud of their team.

But will most basketball experts care when it's done? Ask again after they play the Celtics.