Don't deny it. You're thinking about it. You wouldn't be a Philadelphia sports fan, full of skepticism and even cynicism, always hedging your hope, if you weren't thinking about it. Yes, the 76ers are still up three games to two on the Raptors in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Yes, they're still just one victory away from moving on to the second round. Yes, they have the reassurance of knowing that no NBA team, not a single one, has ever lost a series after taking a three-games-to-none lead.
But then, the longer this series goes, the less reassuring that last fact will become. Instead of providing the Sixers a bulletproof sense of confidence — This has never happened before, so it's not going to happen now, so let's just buckle down and beat these guys — recent history will hang over them like a safe on a fraying string. Doc Rivers has been the head coach of three teams that squandered a three-games-to-one lead in the postseason. James Harden has a well-earned reputation for coming up small in the biggest of games. Joel Embiid was the centerpiece of a team last year that held a series lead against an inferior opponent, burped up that lead, and lost the series. That's already plenty of pressure on the Sixers, and we haven't even gotten to the part about how, if they lose in seven to the Raptors, it would constitute the greatest collapse in NBA history.
Which is why you're probably thinking about it.
