The road to the NBA Finals in the Eastern Conference will run through Philly.
The Philadelphia 76ers clinched the East's No. 1 seed with a blowout victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday. The Sixers will enter the postseason as the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2000-01, when an Allen-Iverson-led squad made a run to the Finals.
With the top seed locked up, who could the Sixers see in the first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs? Here's what you need to know about the rest of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
What is the format for the 2021 NBA Playoffs?
This year's playoffs feature a new wrinkle: the NBA Play-In Tournament. Here's how it works: The No. 7 through No. 10 seeds in the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, qualify for the Play-In Tournament.
The tournament begins May 18 and consists of two rounds for each conference with the following format:
Round 1
No. 7 seed vs. No. 8 seed (winner earns No. 7 seed; loser to Round 2)
No. 9 seed vs. No. 10 seed (winner to Round 2; loser eliminated)
Round 2
Loser of 7-8 vs. Winner of 9-10 (winner earns No. 8 seed; loser eliminated)
Once the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds are decided for each conference, the first round will begin May 22 with the traditional format: seven-game series featuring the 1-8, 2-7, 3-6 and 4-5 matchups.
Where did the Sixers finish in the Eastern Conference standings?
The 49-23 Sixers enter the playoffs atop the Eastern Conference as the No. 1 seed. Behind them, the Brooklyn Nets edged out the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 2 seed.
The New York Knicks not only snapped their eight-year postseason drought, but captured the No. 4 seed in the East. They'll have home-court advantage for their first-round matchup against the fifth-seeded Atlanta Hawks. Should the Sixers take care of the business in Round 1, they will meet the winner of the Knicks-Hawks series in the second round.
The Heat dropped out of the fifth seed, and the Sixers' half of the playoff bracket, on Saturday and finished in sixth, setting up a first-round matchup against the Bucks, who were bounced from last year's playoffs by Miami.
Here's a look at the final East standings behind the Sixers:
| Team | GB From No. 1 |
| 2. Brooklyn Nets | 1 |
| 3. Milwaukee Bucks | 3 |
| 4. New York Knicks | 8 |
| 5. Atlanta Hawks | 8 |
| 6. Miami Heat | 9 |
Who could the Sixers play in the first round?
In a traditional season, the top-seeded Sixers would take on the eighth-seeded Washington Wizards. That won't necessarily be the case this season with a Play-In Tournament being held to determine the seventh and eighth seeds.
The Wizards beat the Charlotte Hornets on the final day of the regular season to claim the eighth seed in the play-in tournament. Now Washington will travel to Boston to take on the Celtics for the seventh seed on Tuesday. The loser of that matchup will then take on the winner of the other play-in game (ninth-seeded Indiana Pacers versus 10th-seeded Hornets) to determine the Sixers' first-round opponent.
If the Celtics and Wizards manage to hold onto their respective seeds in the Play-In Tournament, here is what the East matchups will look like:
| No. 1 Philadelphia 76ers | No. 8 Washington Wizards |
| No. 2 Brooklyn Nets | No. 7 Boston Celtics |
| No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks | No. 6 Miami Heat |
| No. 4 New York Knicks | No. 5 Atlanta Hawks |
What are the Sixers' playoff odds?
Joel Embiid and the Sixers currently have +800 odds to win the 2021 NBA championship -- odds provided by our partner, PointsBet Sportsbook.
Only four teams in the league have better odds of winning the title: the Nets at +250, the Clippers at +450, the Lakers at +500, the Bucks at +700 and the Jazz at +700.
PointsBet is NBC Sports' official sports betting partner. We may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.
Mike Gavin contributed to this story.
