*whispers* The Sixers are Two Games out of the Fourth Seed in the Eastern Conference


The year is 2018. The city of Philadelphia has entered an alternate universe, Stranger Things style, where nothing ever goes wrong and no one ever loses. Since we reached our pinnacle by winning the Super Bowl last Sunday, neither the Flyers nor the Sixers have lost a game. For God sake, even Temple basketball, dead in the water a month ago, has now won 6 straight AAC matchups. After this triumphant week, I have more than convinced myself there’s going to be a Phillies playoff run.
In the latest stage of this alternate universe, we have reached the point of TJ Mcconell triple doubles in double digit defeats of opponents. The Sixers, on the cusp of the All-Star break, have won eight straight at home and have seemed to turn the corner. In their last match-up against the Clippers, in typical Sixers fashion, a 16 point lead was cut to two in the 4th quarter. Then, the Sixers went on a 9-0 run to close out the game while surviving an Embiid injury scare in the process (no pun intended).
With one game left before the All-Star break, the Sixers sit at 29-25 in the seventh seed in the East (hello Lebron) and remarkably just two games out of the 4 seed in the East that the Washington Wizards currently hold. It’s not my belief that the Sixers can catch the perpetual Eastern conference contenders, but they certainly can pose a dangerous threat to those teams come playoff time. Philly clearly possesses two distinct mismatches every night that will give the Eastern Conference “elite” fits. With the addition of Marco Bellinelli to bolster depth, the secondary pieces seem to be forming a legitimate rotation that will absolve this blown leads problem and catapult us to a post Presidents Day playoff push.
Look, I’d be lying if I said that the recent success of the Sixers and Flyers have piqued my interest. I’m still floating on a high from the Super Bowl that I may never come down from. I’m like the fish at the end of Finding Nemo, now that I hit my goal I’m kind of just floating here.


But, what goes up must come down. When I do, there will be a football sized hole in my heart that will need to be filled by the Sixers becoming a legitimate contender for the first time in what feels like ages. It’s never too early to get ahead of ourselves but the way things are going, give me the Boston Celtics in a 7 game series. In this alternate universe, we seem to have a knack for ruining that town’s championship chances.

By Aidan Powers | February 13, 2018