Saturday, 14 April 2018:
 | | BEN SIMMONS #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on against the Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. | |
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Ben Simmons is ready to face the greatest test of his young NBA career by leading the Philadelphia 76ers into the playoffs.
The 76ers play the Miami Heat in game one of a best-of-seven first round playoff series on Saturday in front a ferocious crowd in Philadelphia.
Simmons' playoff debut will be another childhood dream come true for the Melbourne-born 21-year-old.
"I'm ready to go," Simmons told reporters on Friday.
"I'm ready to play."
His job became a lot harder when 76ers coach Brett Brown confirmed Joel Embiid had been ruled out of game one.
The All-Star centre is recovering from a fractured orbital bone and 76ers' fans were hoping he would don a protective mask and play.
Brown said there is no clear date for the big man's return.
The 76ers enter the playoffs on a 16-game win streak, a feat no other NBA team has achieved heading into the post season.
The streak is a 76ers' record and rocketed the team up the Eastern Conference standings to an unexpected third seed.
Embiid was out with the face fracture for nine of the streak's wins, which has buoyed the 76ers and made rival NBA teams take notice.
"It's hard not to notice how well they've played the last 16 games," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Heat are seeded sixth in the East but match up well with the 76ers, the teams splitting this season's four regular season games.
Veteran Heat guard Dwyane Wade praised NBA Rookie of the Year favourite Simmons' leadership during the absence of Embiid.
"He's done an amazing job," Wade said.
"As a young player every night he is consistently bringing the game that wins and that's playing all-around basketball."
Patty Mills and his San Antonio Spurs open their play-off campaign on Saturday against long-time Western Conference rivals, the Golden State Warriors.
Both teams, uncharacteristically, look vulnerable.
The Warriors limped into the second seed in the West while the Spurs drifted to seventh.
The Warriors' two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry is likely out for the series with a serious left knee sprain.
Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs' best player, has been absent since January with a mysterious quadriceps injury - speculation is he has issues with team management.
Canberra-born Mills is expected to start at shooting guard and be given the defensive job on the Warriors' taller and lethal sharpshooter Klay Thompson.
On Sunday, Aron Baynes's Boston Celtics (the second seed in the East) take on the seenth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, featuring Australian duo Matthew Dellavedova and Thon Maker.
Kiwi big man Steven Adams and the West's fourth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder host the fifth-seeded Utah Jazz, featuring Joe Ingles and Dante Exum on Sunday.
On Saturday, the East's top-seeded Toronto Raptors host the Washington Wizards and the Portland Trail Blazers are at home against the New Orleans Pelicans.
The other Sunday games are the overall No.1 seeded Houston Rockets hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Cleveland Cavaliers with home court advantage against the Indiana Pacers.
