Five Sixers thoughts after the All-Star Break

The Sixers are currently two games up in the standings over Cleveland, a team full of blossoming young talent – a complete inverse of the Sixers. There's legitimate concern they could slide down to the No. 4 seed. 

What's the difference between the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds? The second round, which has been a brick wall for this franchise. 

If the Sixers win their first-round series as the No. 3 seed, they'd play the Bucks in the second round. This team would have a real shot against Milwaukee to advance! If they're the No. 4 seed, however, they'd end up playing Boston in the East semifinals, a matchup where I can just not see them winning four times in seven games. 

3. The Sixers are stuck at backup center. I could've written that sentence at any point in the last six seasons and it would've proven true. Behind Embiid, the Sixers have Montrezl Harrell, Paul Reed and Dewayne Dedmon. I'm rolling with Reed come the postseason just for the athleticism and upside, but that's a black hole. 

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Until the end of my days, I'll think about the Sixers' Game 7 against the Raptors in the 2019 Eastern Conference Semifinals. In a two-point loss, Embiid was a +10 in over 45 minutes of play. Backup center Greg Monroe was a -9 in the less than two minutes he was on the court. Improbable? Yes, but this is the Sixers we're talking about.

Can the Sixers trust any of these guys to not be a -9 in 101 seconds of action? I don't know. How could you trust anything with this team when it comes to the playoffs? 

4. The Sixers' playoff closing lineup needs to be Embiid, Harden, Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey and De'Anthony Melton. I have no qualms with Maxey coming off the bench at the moment given the imbalance of this roster. I love the versatility Melton brings playing alongside Harden and/or Maxey. 

Can they rely on P.J. Tucker at the end of a playoff game though?

At this stage, I say no. Tucker is a dog and the only player on this roster with a championship ring. He's grinded out a tough career and cashed in a nice payday this past offseason. He turns 38 in May though. If he's shooting fewer than two threes per game and not bringing the defense he's been known for, what's his utility late in games unless Rivers is going offense-defense? 

The NBA is wide open and there is a timeline out there where the Sixers gut it out and make the conference finals (or even the NBA Finals), but I cannot get the taste of 21+ seasons of not getting beyond the second round out of my mouth. 

5. Mac McClung needs to play at least one minute as a Sixer. Will this have a concrete impact on the franchise's desperation to make it out of the second round? No, but come on, do something for the fans. This city rallied behind a stripped-down rebuild, lived through the Markelle Fultz and Ben Simmons eras and saw their general manager canned for a bunch of burner accounts. Throw them a bone! Put McClung in for a game!

It would be the most Sixers thing ever for McClung to win the slam dunk contest in a Red Sixers jersey (which you cannot buy on Fanatics!) and for him to never actually play for the team. Don't let Mac McClung be Philadelphia's Moonlight Graham. Give him at least one game of action so he can officially go down as a Sixer. 

McClung is back playing for the Delaware Blue Coats in the G-League Wednesday night. The Sixers have a nationally televised prime-time home game against the Celtics on Saturday night. Do the right thing and let McClung try to dunk over Al Horford.