Wednesday night was a feel-good opportunity for the Philadelphia 76ers. In their second NBA Play-In performance in three years, the Sixers found success against the Orlando Magic.
Now, the 76ers are playoff-bound and gearing up for a battle against the Boston Celtics.
Is that where the good vibes drop off? Only time will tell, but history doesn’t bode well for the Sixers. And the opening odds don’t tell a great story either.
The Sixers Are Heavy Underdogs In Round 1
The Sixers and the Celtics will meet for Game 1 on Sunday, April 19. The first two games will take place in Boston, before the series returns to Philly for two games next week.
Looking at Game 1’s odds, FanDuel has put down the Sixers at +530, with a +12.5-point spread. That’s the widest gap for any current series (both 1 vs 8 matchups are not determined).
Although that’s a bad look for the Sixers, it’s not a surprising outcome.
Struggles Without Joel Embiid
For starters, the 76ers are likely to enter the playoffs without Joel Embiid on the floor. Last week, Embiid was rushed into surgery due to appendicitis. While there have been positive updates regarding Embiid’s hypothetical timelines from outsiders in the medical field, nothing is confirmed just yet.
The 76ers are likely operating with the idea that Embiid could miss most–if not all–of the first-round series against the Celtics.
Considering the Sixers don’t have a single series win over the Celtics since the start of the Joel Embiid era (they faced each other three times in the playoffs), they are facing major doubt. According to BetOnline, the Sixers’ full series odds have opened with a 90.2% liklihood of losing.
A lot can change, and odds can and will shift over time, but the early narrative surrounding the 76ers is that they are in for a rude awakening. Soon, the NBA world will see if they’ll be able to bring it against a healthy and stacked Celtics team.