April 16, 2024
Bill Streicher/for PhillyVoice
The Sixers will go as far as Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey take them.
Even as a Play-In team, the Sixers are coming into the postseason with (rightfully) heightened expectations. Anything short of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 23 years, especially considering last year's flameout against Boston, should be viewed as a failure.
Though they currently stand as the No. 7 seed in the East, hosting the Miami Heat on Wednesday in the Play-In Tournament for the rights to a first-round matchup with the New York Knicks, the Sixers are currently tied for the fifth-best championship odds in the league (via FanDuel Sportsbook).
Here are the odds for the top 10 teams:
| Team | Odds |
| Celtics | +165 |
| Nuggets | +300 |
| Clippers | +1400 |
| Bucks | +1400 |
| Thunder | +1600 |
| Sixers | +1600 |
| Mavericks | +1700 |
| Timberwolves | +1900 |
| Suns | +1900 |
| Knicks | +3300 |
Boston is correctly given the best odds and Denver being right behind them checks out as the reigning champions. There's a big drop-off after that.
The Sixers have the third-best odds of winning the East as well at +850 behind just Boston (-190) and Milwaukee (+700).
In the short term, as of this writing, the Sixers are 4.5-point favorites on Wednesday against Miami. Winning that one is, of course, the first step toward a potential Eastern Conference playoff run.
Follow Shamus & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @shamus_clancy | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Shamus' RSS feed to your feed reader
