Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown said Wednesday that he’s not worrying about any team in the Eastern Conference:
“There’s not one team in the Eastern Conference that I’m intimidated by.” – Brett Brown
— Jon Johnson (@jonjohnsonwip) March 28, 2018
Although the Sixers are young and inexperienced, there’s nothing wrong with Brown saying this. First, every team should enter the postseason with this mindset; a team that’s intimidated by its opponent isn’t going to win a playoff series. Second, the East is more wide open than it’s been in years. The Cleveland Cavaliers look astonishingly vulnerable. The Boston Celtics are young and injured. The Toronto Raptors look like the favorite, but their past playoff performances and matchup issues with Cleveland say otherwise. Really, the Sixers making the finals isn’t completely out of the question.
The 76ers are led by a rookie and a second-year player, but those guys are both generational talents, and the team has other terrific players who are a bit more experienced, like J.J. Redick and Robert Covington. The Sixers are young but fun, talented and fairly deep.
Currently, the 76ers are percentage points ahead of the Indiana Pacers for fourth in the conference, and sit just half-a-game back of the Cavaliers.
