The Latest
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The Sixers are real, and the Heat are in trouble
The most shocking thing about the Sixers’ Game 1 victory over the Miami Heat, in their first playoff appearance since 2012? How much it felt like just another Sixers’ win. Sure, the stakes were higher, the crowd was more wired, and the first half was tougher than in most, if not all of the Sixers’ 16 straight wins to end…
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A Sixers playoff preview — for a series they're expected to win!
I’ll be honest — I do not remember how to write a Philadelphia 76ers playoff preview. I’ve been writing for The700Level since 2009, and the Sixers made the postseason several times since then, so presumably I must’ve penned a couple such pieces in that timespan. But the half-decade following their last appearance has been so overwhelmed with columns I’ve...
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Take a day to enjoy 52-30 before worrying about the playoffs
After 15 games in a row, I probably should’ve learned my lesson. But I really though the streak was ending last night: The Sixers looked gassed against the Hawks in Atlanta on Tuesday, Ben Simmons had the flu, Dario Saric probably hadn’t eaten solid food in 24 hours, both Joel Embiid and J.J. Redick were out, and the Sixers were gonna have...
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Good results last night for Lakers' pick set to go to Philly
The Philadelphia 76ers won a weird one last night against the Hawks in Atlanta. Already without Joel Embiid for the seventh straight game, the Sixers also had a compromised Ben Simmons suffering from a stomach bug, and lost Dario Saric about 15 seconds into the game with a busted lip and chipped tooth, resulting in a game against an undermanned,…
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The playoffs started a week early for the Sixers
The playoffs started a week early for the 76ers. With the three seed likely on the line, the Sixers pounded the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first half Friday night, but apparently not into total submission, as the Cavs came zooming back in the third to make it a game, and nearly stole it outright. Though their lead was tested to…
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Will Markelle Fultz attempt a 3 this season?
Do you still get those twinges in the early evening on a game day where you think to yourself “Hmm, maybe I should check to see if there’s any beat writer footage of Markelle Fultz taking jumpers at shootaround today” — before you remember he’s really playing in the games proper now? It’s a hard habit to break, especially...
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Joel Embiid down, now what? An FAQ
We came so close. Not to an exciting, full-strength playoff run with likely first-round home-court advantage — though dammit, that would’ve been kind of nice — but to Joel Embiid finally passing the 65-games-and-two-working-legs test that I’ve long said would define a good season for the Sixers. His legs still seem to be fine, thank John Legend, but after news Thursday that...
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Treasure the Sixers' health for as long as it lasts
Even before Joel Embiid went down in the second quarter against the New York Knicks last night — with what was ultimately diagnosed as a facial contusion, after getting accidentally popped by the shoulder of teammate Markelle Fultz — I was feeling like Philadelphia 76ers fans, including myself, probably needed to take a moment to appreciate the good health the team…
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The Philadelphia 76ers are complete
I don’t think many of us woke up yesterday expecting last night’s home game to be any kind of historic for the Philadelphia 76ers. The team had already clinched their first playoff appearance in six years and their first 82-game winning record in far longer — although there was still playoff position to be fought for, it seemed like most of...
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Sixers are officially winners for first time in forever
It feels almost impossible to believe. The Sixers hadn’t had a winning 82-game season since 2005. Could’ve sworn one of those Doug Collins or Mo Cheeks teams at least went 42-40, right? Nope. Aside from going 35-31 in the lockout-shortened 2011-’12 season, the Sixers never went better than 41-41 (which they did twice) in the last 13 years. But now,…