Spike Eskin is unafraid of Celtics, Bucks: Prefer play-in for 76ers

94WIP's Spike Eskin is optimistic about the Philadelphia 76ers' chances with a healthy Joel Embiid, saying he'd actually prefer the team be in the play-in round than not.

"Wait a minute Fritzy boy, you're the one who told me how good it is for the Phillies to be in the first-round in the playoffs so they can have momentum," Eskin said on Monday's 94WIP Afternoon Show with Ike Reese and Jack Fritz.

Eskin also guest appeared on Tuesday's 94WIP Morning Show with hope that Embiid returns tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder on national TV and doubled down on his take, also explaining why he is not afraid of the Milwaukee Bucks or the Boston Celtics.

"To be clear on the play-in, I'm not sure they would win it," Eskin told the 94WIP Morning Show on Tuesday. "If you can't win one out of two games against Miami and Chicago then fine, they don't deserve to be there. Looking at the Phillies of the last couple of years, it's not too dissimilar—I would rather come off of beating Miami in the play-in going into that first-round of the playoffs than not. I think that could be a good thing. It gives Embiid another game to play with everyone, it gives them a tough game to get ready for whatever the next round is and I'm just not scared of Milwaukee at all. I'm not sure the Sixers would beat them, but they can certainly beat them. I would give them better than a puncher's chance to beat Milwaukee.

"The Boston Celtics, while clearly a good team, have had periods over the last three years where they appeared to be during the regular season to be the best team in the league. They lost in the Conference Finals last year, they have one Finals appearance during that entire time. I don't think the Boston Celtics are unbeatable in any shape or form at all."

The Sixers are currently 40-35 with seven games to go and have the third easiest strength of schedule, according to ESPN.com. They currently sit 2.5 games behind the No. 6 seeded Indiana Pacers, who have six games remaining.