History on Sixers' Side as No. 3 Seed Vs. Heat

The No. 3 seed Sixers may be favored, but the No. 6 seed Heat present plenty of challenges.

From the battle-tested Dwyane Wade to a legitimate big man that can compete with Joel Embiid in Hassan Whiteside, you can't count Miami out.

"Look, this is great competition," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. "You look at our games, we split it 2-2. Every game went down to the wire. We had some crazy games where both teams had big leads, lost the leads. This is what you want. The 3-6 matchup is usually very, very competitive."

There's truth to Spoelstra's comments. Three of the last four series involving the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds in the Eastern Conference have been rather interesting. 

Last season, the No. 3 seed Raptors took on the No. 6 seed Bucks. Led by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee took Game 1 in Toronto, 97-83. After Toronto took Game 2 in a nail-biter, the Bucks obliterated the Raptors at home, 104-77, to take a 2-1 series lead. Toronto restored order and won the next three straight to take the series, 4-2.

The previous year wasn't a walk in the park for Spoelstra and his No. 3 Heat against the No. 6 Hornets. Miami defended their home court with ease in the first two matchups, winning 123-91 and 115-103. Charlotte then took the next three games to take a 3-2 series lead before the Heat closed out the series with back-to-back wins.

The No. 3 Bulls had little trouble with the No. 6 Bucks in 2015, winning the first three games of the series before eventually taking the series in six games. In 2014, however, the No. 6 Nets upset the No. 3 Raptors. Led by the over-the-hill squad of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams, Brooklyn took down Toronto in a seven-game series.

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Before that, you'd have to go back to 2010 (No. 3 Milwaukee took No. 6 Atlanta to seven games) to find a competitive series between a No. 3 and a No. 6. The last time before 2014 that a No. 6 seed was able to pull out the upset? That was 2007 when the Vince Carter-led New Jersey Nets beat the Raptors in six games.

The more recent matchups haven't been as competitive out West. As a No. 3 seed, the Clippers were taken to seven games in back-to-back postseasons in 2015 and 2014 but ultimately prevailed. 

You'd have to go back to 2013 for the last time a 3-6 upset happened in the Western Conference. Stephen Curry and his upstart Warriors were able to upset the Nuggets and do so in six games. Before that? The No. 6 Mavericks cruised past the Spurs in five games all the way back in 2009.

So Spoelstra is right in that the most recent matchups in the East have been pretty competitive, but only four six seeds have pulled off the upset in either conference in the last decade. 

Luckily for the Sixers, history is on their side in that regard.

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