The great Jimmy Butler is 15-26 in the playoffs, not including his rookie year where he was 0-3 in a few garbage time minutes. I guess you can say his record is a result of being on a middling team. His playoff and regular season numbers are similar.
I don't believe in the Sixers as all. Simmons is a joke. You can't be playing PG in the playoffs where your defender is sagging ten feet off of you, mucking up your entire offense. Simmons made only three shots more than a few feet from the lane the entire season. How is that even possible for a guard playing 2700 minutes?
In the regular season, when teams run up and down the court, Simmons has value. But when things slow down in the playoffs, and coaches scheme and defenses lock in and execute, a huge flaw in a key player's game can derail an entire team.
Besides the Simmons problem, scheming Redick really slows him down. His scoring, FG% and 3FG% all drop in the playoffs. Since he really doesn't do anything else, that's a problem. I can't blame it on Simmons, since Redick had these issues on his other three teams. Embiid's scoring, FG% and 3FG% also drops in the playoffs. Harris has never won a playoff game, going 0-4 with the Pistons against the Cavs in 2016, and having a horrible game one with Philly, scoring only 4 points in 40 minutes. The Sixers bench is lousy, and they had to play Mike Scott 32 minutes in game one, where he scored three points on 1-8 shooting from long distance. McConnell usually holds down the fort when he gets some PT, but's he not a game changer.
Maybe the Sixers get it together. Ben Simmons figures out how to get to the rim a dozen times a game. Embiid posts up consistently and gets Allen and Davis in foul trouble. Redick shakes loose often and makes his threes. Harris and Butler get buckets, and Butler closes out any close games. Boban, TJ, Scott, and Jonathan Simmons chip in when they get an opportunity. If they can do most of that, and can figure out how they can contain a team that outquicks them in at least three spots, they might win the series. So far, the Nets have put up 122, 125, 127, 110, and 111 points on the Sixers this season, an average of 119 ppg, The Sixers gave up 112 ppg this season, 15th in the league.
I think the Nets will win this series in six games.