By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers are one win away from advancing into the second-round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. After splitting two games on their home court to start the series, they won both Game 3 & 4 in Miami to head back home with an opportunity to punch their ticket to the semifinals in Philadelphia.
In two of the four games, the Sixers have had trouble containing 36-year-old veteran Dwyane Wade. He scored 28 in Game 2 and 25 in Game 4. At age 36, this could be his last games in a Heat uniform or perhaps even the NBA. The 2018 NBA playoffs is Wade's 13th appearance in the postseason. He's a three-time NBA champion and has averaging 22.4 points on 47.5 shooting through 176 playoff games.
Throughout the series, Wade has been asked his thoughts on the up and coming Sixers, and after Game 4, he said that they are one of the best opponents he's ever played in a first-round series.
"This is a very good team," Wade said. "Outside of matching the energy that we play with, they execute very well, they're very well coached and they have a lot of talent at a lot of different positions. This definitely is one of the best first-round series that I've ever played in."
The one guy Wade mentioned a few times in the first few playoff press conferences this series is Ben Simmons. The Sixers rookie point guard watched guys like Wade growing up and now he's performing well against him on the big stage. Simmons is averaging 19.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists in 38 minutes per game in the series.
"I give a lot of credit to their point guard, their leader – Ben," Wade told reporters. "He does a great job of getting them settled, getting the ball to his guys and they keep feeding confidence to him. […] I can't say anything bad about them at all. So far they've been great opponents.
Simmons is averaging 19.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists in 38 minutes per game in the series.
