The Philadelphia 76ers saw their postseason come to an early and convincing end over the weekend, as the Sixers were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

For Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons, it's a feeling he hopes to never have again:

Simmons suffered a knee injury while playing against the Washington Wizards in the closing stages of the regular season. The former No. 1 overall pick exited the game after playing 23 minutes. Initially, the injury didn't seem to be severe, as there wasn't much pain or swelling. However, he was later diagnosed with a subluxation of his left patella, which is a partial dislocation of the kneecap. As a result, he was held out of Philly's remaining games, including the first round of the playoffs.

Simmons underwent successful surgery earlier this month to remove a loose body from his left knee.

With Simmons sidelined, Sixers head coach Brett Brown was forced to lean on some of his other players a bit more, such as Joel Embiid, Al Horford, Tobias Harris and Shake Milton. Ultimately, though, their efforts were not enough to fend off the Celtics, who were led by outstanding efforts from Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Simply put, the loss of Simmons left Philly at a real disadvantage on both ends of the floor. Making thigs a bit worse was the fact that Boston came into the series as one of the best offensive teams in the league.

For Boston, the win marks the first sweep in 15 playoff series meetings between these two teams. For Philly, it's the third consecutive season in which the team has failed to make it past the second round.

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Embiid, who led the Sixers in Game 4 with 30 points and 10 rebounds, took the brunt of this sweep on his own shoulders:

“There's a lot of regrets,” Embiid said, via ESPN. “I feel like the focus wasn't always there. We just gotta look ourselves in the mirror and do better.”

So … what's left for the Sixers? Has “The Process” been good enough to keep the roster together? Will Brett Brown be back as the team's head coach?

When asked if he thinks he was able to put forth his best coaching effort in spite of the team's injuries, Brown offered a short and honest reply:

“No,” Brown told ESPN.

All signs point toward Brown getting fired, but the Sixers might just want to give Simmons and Embiid another crack at it.