NBA playoffs live: 76ers, on the verge of being swept by Celtics, have one glaring weakness - Washington Post

JJ Redick is one of the players displaying the 76ers' Achilles' heel. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The 76ers and Raptors were picked by plenty of analysts to win their second-round series, and now both could be swept Monday night. Follow along here for the latest analysis and commentary from The Post's NBA reporter Tim Bontemps, and ask him questions in the comments section. Catch up on yesterday's games here.

Through the first three games of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers have been proven to have a glaring weakness: the lack of a perimeter player who can create his own shot.

Ben Simmons, J.J. Redick, Robert Covington, T.J. McConnell, Marco Belinelli — all of them are unable to isolate and score themselves on a consistent basis. That's a weakness Celtics Coach Brad Stevens has taken advantage of, as he's had his defense allow Joel Embiid — the one player who can create his own shot — to go one-on-one against Al Horford in the paint time and again, and not allow Philadelphia's other players to get going.

All the while, the player the Sixers thought would be able to make those kinds of plays — Markelle Fultz — has watched from the bench, having been benched since early in the first round against the Miami Heat. It is the latest example of what might have been had Fultz's rookie season gone differently.

Count me among those who think Fultz is going to wind up being all right. After returning late in the season, his speed with the ball was eye-popping, and he was able to snake his way into defenses even with obvious issues with his shot remaining. With an entire offseason to get his mechanics and his confidence in order, the hope is that he'll be able to get back to being the player who was the near-consensus top pick in last year's NBA draft. And it's understandable why Sixers Coach Brett Brown has avoided going back to Fultz — McConnell has played well, and Fultz made some bad turnovers, not to mention teams could take even more advantage of his shooting issues than they have been with Simmons.

But one can't help but watch these Sixers, and how this series is playing out, and wonder what could have been if Fultz had been right this season. And if Philadelphia's season does end tonight with a loss to the Celtics in Game 4 of this series, expect perimeter shot creation to be something General Manager Bryan Colangelo focuses on finding this summer.

He'll undoubtedly be hoping part of that solution is getting Fultz back in the mix.

The Detroit Pistons have parted ways with Stan Van Gundy, giving the NBA one front office opening and a third coaching job to fill.

Van Gundy's status has been in limbo for the past three weeks, as he and owner Tom Gores held multiple meetings before it was ultimately determined that Van Gundy, who was given the dual roles of coach and president of basketball operations, wouldn't return for the final year of his contract in a meeting Monday afternoon.

Upon arriving in Detroit, Gores told Van Gundy he could not do a complete teardown of the roster in the style of the Philadelphia 76ers. So Van Gundy did not, and tried to bring the Pistons back to the playoffs without ever bottoming out. He succeeded in 2016, but injuries to Reggie Jackson the past two years prevented Detroit from repeating that feat — and led Van Gundy to depart.

Now it is assumed that Arn Tellem, the longtime NBA super agent who has been running Detroit's business operations, will have a large say in who replaces Van Gundy both as head coach and as the head of basketball operations. The Pistons should have a team that will be in the playoffs next season, but has salary cap obligations stretching over the next two years because of long-term deals for Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond. Detroit also doesn't have its first-round pick in this year's NBA draft, having sent it to the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire Griffin in February.

Schedule: