Evaluating the Philadelphia 76ers at the All-Star Break

The NBA Trade Deadline and All-Star Weekend have come and gone, so that means we’re in the home stretch of the 2019-20 NBA season. In this serious post-All-Star Break, we’ll go over the outlook for every team in the NBA. Here, we’ll provide a short glimpse at championship odds and playoff chances for each team. Also highlighted are key injuries to note and a fantasy basketball player to watch the rest of the season.

Where do the Philadelphia 76ers stand at the All-Star Break?

Record: 34-21
Playoff Chances: 100%
Championship Odds: +1400
Division Odds: +800
Conference Championship winner: +600
MVP Odds, Joel Embiid: +15000
DPOTY Odds, Ben Simmons: +2000

Despite sitting comfortably in the No. 5 seed in the East and 13 games over .500, the Sixers still probably feel like they’ve underperformed this season. The team has won three in a row entering the break, but that came after a four-game losing streak on the road. The Sixers are the best home team in the NBA at 25-2, but it’s looking like they may not get home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. That’ll be an issue when you’re 9-19 away from Wells Fargo Center.

Still, the Sixers may have the highest range of outcomes of any potential playoff contender. They could get dispatched easily in the first round in five games. They could go on a run, face the Bucks in the second round and take down the No. 1 overall seed en route to the NBA Finals. It’s almost an even split between home (14) and road (13) games the rest of the season for Philly and the team will need to figure out how to win road games in order to get into the top 4 in the East for home court advantage.

If Embiid and Simmons can mesh better, we see a little more from Al Horford and Tobias Harris, and the 3-point shooting comes around, the Sixers could be dangerous in the postseason.

Prediction: Sixers get a top 4 seed in the East, make it to the second round.

Key Injuries for Philadelphia 76ers

No Injuries

There are no injuries to note for the Sixers heading into the All-Star Break, which is great news and something they aren’t used to seeing. Joel Embiid has been able to stay healthy this season with one minor blip, missing nine games due to a dislocated finger that needed surgery. He’s looked fine since returning, though his absence showed us a bit of what Ben Simmons is capable of without Embiid.

SG Josh Richardson recently return from a six-game absence due to a hamstring injury. He was back in the starting 5 on Tuesday night and scored 21 points in 32 minutes. The Sixers brought in Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks to provide some scoring off the bench and depth at the 2 and 3, but if Richardson can stay healthy and play like that, Philly won’t need much from the former Warriors.

Fantasy basketball spotlight: Furkan Korkmaz

This is a little crazy to think about, but the Sixers may go as far as Furkan takes them. Well, not exactly, but Philly needs consistent 3-point shooting and Korkmaz has delivered at times this season. Prior to Tuesday night’s awful performance of zero points in 23 minutes, Korkmaz had scored a combined 71 points in back-to-back games, draining 13 three-pointers. That was enough for the Sixers to start Korkmaz over Al Horford against the Clippers. Korkmaz is streaky, sure, but he’s a guy who can fill it up and there will be games down the stretch in which he hits 5+ 3-pointers. At 16.6 percent ownership on ESPN, he isn’t a bad player to throw on a watch list or even pick up if you need 3s.

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