Logo
The Ticker
10 hours ago

Game 6 Will Be Wednesday Night at 8pm on ESPN

After the Thunder finished up their series by routinely dismantling the Lakers last night to send them packing in five games, a time has been announced for the C’s-Sixers Game 6 on Wednesday night. It will tipoff shortly after 8pm on ESPN. Looking ahead in the postseason, if the C’s do win Game 6, and [...]

0
22 hours ago

Highlight: Rondo Leads The Break

I love this decision-making from Rajon Rondo. While leading the break, you can see him eyeballing Ray Allen, who runs the wing and spots up on the arc. The Sixers have a 1-2 disadvantage but are mostly concerned about Allen’s three balls, which allows Mickael Pietrus to make an unmolested baseline cut behind the defense. [...]

2
2 days ago

Celtics-Sixers Game 5 Tips off at 7pm

A note to all you local C’s fans out there that may be attending the game tonight at TD Garden. The game will start just after 7pm and will be broadcast nationally on TNT. However, unlike most TNT regular season games during the season, the tip will not come 15-20 minutes after the scheduled start [...]

4
9 days ago

(Video) Rajon Rondo Continues To Dominate In Postgame Interview

Rajon Rondo is a tremendous player, but he tends to have a little bit of an issue scoring the ball late in games. I won’t go as far as saying he is scared, but he does pass up shots and defer to teammates in crunch-time….well a lot. Last night though may have been his coming [...]

3
10 days ago

Video: Full Kevin Garnett Reaction After Game 1

Garnett followed up his season-best effort against Atlanta in Game 6 with a new season-high in points and another sensational double-double, as well 60 percent shooting (12-of-20) from the field. Over his past two contests, Garnett is averaging 28.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, two steals and four blocks a game. After the game, KG was candid [...]

3
10 days ago

The Enemies List: Philadelphia, Part II

Before every playoff series this season, we’re doing some rundowns on the opposing roster for each team. Now that the Hawks have been dispensed with, we’re onto the Sixers. Here’s Part II. Players are listed in alphabetical order. Andre Iguodala: There are five guys in the league who have a claim on the title of [...]

4
Browse Archives by:

It Won’t Be Detroit; Hello Philly?

Chicago just got a big road win over Detroit, meaning these are your up-to-the-second Eastern Conference bottom three:

Bulls 41-40 (remaining game: home vs. Toronto)

Sixers 40-40 (remaining games: home vs. Boston; @ Cleveland)

Detroit 39-42 (doesn’t matter)

Detroit is now locked in as Cleveland’s opponent and the eighth seed, since Philly wins the tie-breaker over the Pistons based on a taking the season series, 2-1. 

Let’s assume Chicago beats Toronto, to move to 42-40 overall. That means Philly (obviously) would have to win out in order to have the tie-breakers (explained below) kick in. But let’s put this simply for now: If Chicago beats the Raptors, the Celtics can ensure they play Philly in the first round by beating Philly on Tuesday. So if you want the Sixers and not the Bulls, cheer extra hard for Boston tomorrow.

If Philly and Chicago do finish tied, the next tie-breaker is record against Eastern Conference opponents. Right now, that looks like this:

Chicago: 24-27

Philadelphia: 24-26

So in the unlikely event the Bulls lose to Toronto (dropping them to 24-28 against the East), they could be in trouble, since a Philly split against Boston and Cleveland would give them an edge in this tie-breaker (at 25-27 versus the East) and thus the sixth seed. If both teams finish at 42-40, Philly will get the sixth seed based on a superior conference record. 

We don’t have to go any further in tie-breakers, since, by definition, if both teams finish 41-41, Philly gets the sixth seed because they’ll have a superior conference record.

To recap, here are the scenarios:

1) Bulls beat Toronto, Philly goes 2-0 = Philly finishes 6th, Chicago 7th

2) Bulls beat Toronto, Philly goes 1-1 or 0-2 = Chicago finishes 6th, Sixers 7th

3) Toronto beats Bulls, Philly goes 2-0 = Philly finishes 6th, Bulls 7th

4) Toronto beats Bulls, Philly goes 1-1 = Philly finishes 6th, Bulls 7th

5) Toronto beats Bulls, Philly goes 0-2 = Chicago finishes 6th, Sixers 7th

(PS: It’s late and I’m tired. If someone thinks I’ve screwed this up, please let me know in the comments).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>