An Early Look at the Sixers vs Early Contenders in the East
At the start of the season, the Sixers have taken care of business with wins over Washington, New York, Toronto, Orlando, and Charlotte x 2.
Are they contenders or pretenders in the Eastern Conference?
Fellow teams expected to be in the upper echelon of the East have had mixed to poor starts.
Toronto Raptors
Toronto is finally showing signs that they have lost too much talent to contend after the loss of Kawhi and now Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol. Arguably their best player in Pascal Siakam is having a stinker to start the season. At least the first half of their season is all away from home. The Sixers should not have any issues getting past the Raptors this season. At the time of writing, they sit 2nd last in the East.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers have had a great start, but it’s hard to see them having the talent to truly contend without a superstar or borderline superstar in their lineup.
Miami Heat
Miami has run it back with their NBA Finals lineup from the bubble and after an average start to the season, they have many doubting if this can be backed up.
Perhaps the bubble just suited this team, known for its high caliber regimented culture. Whilst I’m not picking the Heat to go back to back in the East, I would still back them to be in the mix.
Boston Celtics
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Boston is interesting. They’ve hit multiple buzzer-beaters in an unconvincing start. They’ve shown a lack of depth in scoring with Kemba Walker injured. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been their only high-level bucket getters. These two young stars only look to be getting better. However, they are going to need a 100% fit Kemba Walker and others to contribute if they’re going to contend after having Gordon Hayward walk for nothing in the off-season.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks have shown little evidence of a boost after acquiring Jrue Holiday and questions have been raised over the team’s depth. They finished the regular season with the most wins in the NBA the last two seasons. After failing to make the NBA Finals on both occasions, Giannis’ and the Bucks’ focus will be on peaking for the playoffs this time around.
Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn looked like genuine favorites out of the blocks until teams started to hit some open looks against their lackadaisical defense. The loss of Spencer Dinwiddie is likely to also have an impact, whether that’s on the court or as trade bait. Prior to Kevin Durant injured his calf and then Achilles in the 2019 playoffs he was playing as well as anyone and probably would have won his third Finals MVP in as many years. He has come back and shown he’s capable of playing close to this level.
Brooklyn’s defense is bad right now, but Kyrie and especially KD will find something extra and be better on defense when things really count in the playoffs. They also have some decent trade chips to upgrade their defense before the deadline. KD and Kyrie have already shown they are the best offensive duo in the East. Beware of Brooklyn.
After a grossly disappointing 2019/20 season, the Sixers’ new-look line-up has had a lot to prove. At the time of writing, they have the best record in the NBA. An unbelievable start for a team with so many new players in the rotation and all-new coaching staff. It is only a start and they are yet to face a genuine contender.
The Sixers have done enough to show they deserve to be in the top tier of favorites to take out the East.
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