The playoffs aren’t here yet, but it will feel like it Friday night when the Sixers host LeBron James and the Cavaliers in a matchup for critical playoff positioning.
The Sixers (48-30) currently are half-a-game behind the Cavaliers (49-30) for the third spot in the Eastern Conference with four games to go. This will be a battle of a balanced roster rooted in top-tier young talent against a squad led by a 33-year-old on a mission. James is averaging 27.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 9.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 37.2 minutes.
Expect the Wells Fargo Center to be loud. Not loud like it was for games against the playoff-hungry Timberwolves or Nuggets … loud like the postseason already is here. The players and fans are well aware of the implications of this game.
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Home-court advantage remains up for grabs. The Sixers have a one-and-a-half game lead over the fifth-place Pacers. They have been nearly unstoppable at home, losing just once in all of 2018. The Sixers have made it crystal clear they have a goal that has not wavered amid key injuries to Joel Embiid and Dario Saric: they are chasing home court … and will not stop.
The race for the third seed in the East also intensified after All-Star guard Kyrie Irving was shut down for the remainder of the season (knee), making the Celtics all a sudden a much less formidable opponent. If the top-four teams advance to the second round (which of course is an “if” in all series), the third seed would be matched up with the shorthanded Celtics while the fourth seed would have to tackle the Raptors and their healthy roster of star power.
The Sixers will be tested by an Eastern Conference contender for the first time since March 13 against the Pacers — and that’s good for them this close to the playoffs. They have been taking care of business against plenty of sub-.500 teams with authority. This stretch has been a positive lesson in dominating their opponents, not playing down to them like they had struggled with earlier in the season.
Now the Sixers can take everything they have developed during this 12-game winning streak and apply it to a level of competition they have not faced in a while. This is the same level of competition they will be challenged by when the postseason begins in just over a week.