NBA Playoffs: Sixers' Doc Rivers Acknowledges Downside of Play-In Tournament

When the NBA couldn't complete a full 82-game season in 2019-2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league rolled out a brand new idea to have the teams on the fence of making the playoffs engage in a play-in tournament to lock in the bottom seeds in each conference.

To shake things up during the condensed season in 2020-2021, the NBA brought the idea back into the mix for another trial run. After this week, the regular season will conclude, and several teams in the Eastern and Western Conference will battle for the remaining playoff slots. 

This season, the Sixers won't be involved as they've locked in a spot in the postseason last week and will likely land the first seed in the East. While the play-in doesn't necessarily concern the Sixers, it does affect them in a way and offers a downside for them as they look to prepare for the playoffs in the next couple of weeks.

"The biggest difference, especially if you’re the one seed, is you don’t really know who you’re playing," said Sixers head coach Doc Rivers this week in regards to the tournament. "I think that was the only disadvantage that teams talked about last year. Usually going in, you kind of know. Well, you won’t know until the final game. I think if we do lock up the one seed, then we clearly will have [several] teams that we’ll watch.”

With four games left to go in the regular season, there are a number of teams the Sixers could face in the first round. If the season ended today without a play-in tournament affecting the seeding, the Sixers would engage in a series against the Charlotte Hornets. 

But the play-in tournament makes the Indiana Pacers and the surging Washington Wizards a real possibility too. Regardless of the first-round opponent, the Sixers should be able to take care of business since they are the top seed. However, the circumstances offer a more difficult scenario. Therefore, the Sixers have been scouting several teams on-site and by film lately as playoff inch closer.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.