Philadelphia 76ers: A Look at 3 Potential Playoff Opponents
If you were to ask 76ers coach Doug Collins about the playoffs, he would dismiss the question without so much as a wave of his hand.
While he won't—and can't—allow himself to focus on the postseason just yet, it's not to early to look ahead to what awaits his team as they make their final push toward the playoffs.
As we head into the last month of the regular season, here's how the 76ers stack up against their three most likely first-round playoff opponents:
It goes without saying that the Heat—led by their much-heralded Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh—will be a tough out in this year's playoffs.
In James and Wade, Miami boasts perhaps two of the best five players in the NBA, regardless of position. Bosh, meanwhile, is a solid low-post presence who opens up the floor for the rest of the Heat offense.
Fortunately for the 76ers, their lack of interior size wouldn't be much of a weakness against the Heat. Brand should be able hold his own against Bosh, who looked fairly pedestrian when Miami and Philadelphia faced off earlier in the year (16.5 PPG and 8 RPG in the teams' two previous meetings this season).
Spencer Hawes, despite his defense liabilities, shouldn't have much trouble dealing with Erick Dampier in the post.
How Philadelphia deals with Miami's perimeter players is a different matter entirely.
Defensively, the 76ers have no answer for Dwyane Wade. None. Jodie Meeks would most likely be matched up on Wade at the start of each game, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Evan Turner log heavy minutes in an attempt to corral the Heat's superstar shooting guard.
Iguodala, the 76ers' best defender, would draw the assignment to guard LeBron almost exclusively. While he's done an admirable job on James in the past, his best weapon in a possible playoff matchup with the Heat may have nothing to do with defense at all.
Philadelphia and Miami haven't played each other since Iguodala's move to the point-forward position at the beginning of February. With the 76ers' swingman being asked to carry less of the scoring load on offense, it should allow him to focus more of his energy on guarding James, who is a triple-double threat every single night.
The only concern is Iguodala's nagging right knee injury that will undoubtedly bother him throughout the playoffs.
Of the three most likely playoff opponents for the Sixers, Miami is the only one that they haven't already beaten this season. The last time these two teams played was on Black Friday, with the Heat winning 99-90 at Miami's American Airlines Arena.
One month earlier, Miami spoiled the 76ers' home opener, winning 97-87 back on October 27.
In a matchup against the Central Division champion Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose would present a serious problem.
To be fair, Rose is a difficult matchup for just about anyone. The presumptive NBA MVP has taken the league by storm in his third season, averaging 24.7 points, 7.9 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Rose's sudden coming-of-age doesn't bode well for 76ers starting point guard Jrue Holiday, who has struggled defensively this season against both the elite (Rose, John Wall) and the not-so-elite (Mike Conley, Will Bynum) point guards in the NBA.
A first-round matchup against Chicago could lead to a lot of sleepless nights for Doug Collins, who would need to draw up some elaborate defensive schemes to help Holiday deal with the explosiveness of Rose.
Another issue that would give Collins nightmares is the sheer size of the Bulls' front line. Chicago is currently second in the NBA in rebounding (44.4 per game)—a impressive feat considering that both Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah have missed significant action this season.
The Bulls' interior strength goes far beyond their starting lineup as Taj Gibson and Omer Asik provide solid options off of the bench at the 4 and 5 spots, respectively.
The Bulls' big men play important roles in a stifling defense that has held opponents to under 43 percent shooting on the season, best in the NBA. History reminds us that this is the same Bulls team that absolutely destroyed the 76ers 121-76 back on December 21.
The tables were turned less than two weeks later, however, as the 76ers exacted revenge with a 105-99 win at the Wells Fargo Center on January 7. So while the 76ers appear to be outmatched by the Bulls virtually across the board, they are more than capable of making it a competitive series.
On paper, it looks like a complete mismatch.
When comparing the starting lineups of the two teams, the Celtics are better at every single position, from Rajon Rondo at the point to Nenad Krstic manning the 5 position.
On the court, however, it's been a much different story this season. The 76ers have been extremely competitive in their three matchups against the Celtics this year, winning the last meeting 89-86 back on March 11, and losing the other two games by a combined total of five points.
As one of the younger teams in the NBA, the Sixers would do well to play more of an up-tempo style against Boston—three of the five Celtics' starters (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett) are 33 years of age or older.
In trading Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder (a move that was initially vetoed by Celtics coach Doc Rivers), the Celtics gave up a key contributor who provided a much-needed physical presence in the paint. In return, they received Jeff Green—an athletic, 6'9" forward who gives them a number of options off of the bench.
While Green is naturally a small forward, he shoots well enough that he can also play as a "stretch 4"—a move that will allow Boston to slide Garnett to the center position in an attempt to create mismatches on offense.
The Sixers have a similar player in Thaddeus Young—the two players would likely face off quite a bit if their teams were to meet in the playoffs.
With the arrival of Green and others, this is a vastly different Celtics team than the one that took the Lakers to Game 7 of the Finals last season. Outside of the "Big Four," Glen Davis is the only holdover from the group that won the Eastern Conference championship nine months ago.
That being said, the core of Rondo, Allen, Pierce and Garnett remains—a quartet both eager and desperate for one more run at a title. Rivers is still at the helm as well, not too far removed from his magic act of last year, taking a team that finished the regular season 27-27 and leading them to within minutes of an NBA championship.
As with the Heat and the Bulls, it would be unlikely that the Sixers could win a seven-game series against the Celtics. Don't tell that to Doug Collins, however. He's not ready to hear such talk.
