Even before news broke that All-NBA center Joel Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and concussion in the closing moments of Philadelphia’s first-round victory over the Raptors, the fourth-seeded Sixers were already facing a tall task in trying to defeat their second-round opponents, the Heat.
Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that the team’s path through the playoffs becomes that much dicier with the MVP-caliber big man unavailable through at least the first game of the series. Embiid has also been dealing with a right thumb ligament tear – which will require offseason surgery – since Game 3 of Philadelphia’s first-round series.
Philadelphia seems cautiously hopeful that it might get its best player back in time for one or both of its first two home games in the series. The defensive-oriented Heat will look to capitalize on a club missing the fulcrum of its offense and defense, though Miami, the top seed in the East, could be missing some key players of its own, as point guard Kyle Lowry and small forward Jimmy Butler are dealing with minor maladies. The series tips off Monday. Without Embiid, Philadelphia will look to guards James Harden and Tyrese Maxey, plus power forward Tobias Harris, to step up as scorers.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, who has recently become notorious for blowing playoff leads, has outperformed his patchy postseason reputation of late, opines Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Hayes acknowledges that Rivers has blown more 3-1 playoff advantages than any other NBA coach, but praises him for his regular season work with the Sixers this year, particularly helping elevate the play of Maxey, weathering the storm of Ben Simmons drama, and helping showcase the play of Seth Curry and Andre Drummond to help make them appetizing trade bait for the team’s eventual trade to acquire Harden. Hayes also notes that Philadelphia managed to survive without their premier wing defender, the only-partially-vaccinated Matisse Thybulle, to secure crucial Game 3 and Game 6 against Toronto in the first round.
- Celtics point guard Marcus Smart left the first game of Boston’s second-round contest against the Bucks due to a right shoulder “stinger” and right quad contusion, but was able to return to action in the second half, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The 2022 Defensive Player of the Year would finish Game 1 with 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting from the floor, along with six assists and two steals, in a 101-89 Bucks victory over the Celtics in Boston.
- After falling to the Sixers in their first-round playoff matchup, the Raptors will have to lean on their exciting younger players’ internal growth to take the next step as a team, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Toronto’s veterans noted as much. “I think we have the pieces and now how do you put those pieces together,” All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet said. “Can you add a few pieces around the board and then how do you make it work? How does it make most sense to be the most efficient, the most lethal team that you can put out on the floor?” Thaddeus Young told reporters that the Raptors can be “really, really scary” and added that the “sky’s the limit for every individual on this team.” Rookie of the Year forward Scottie Barnes, 23-year-old swingman Gary Trent Jr., and 24-year-old small forward OG Anunoby are candidates to take leaps for Toronto in the years to come.
Yes, Doc is a good regular season coach
I always suggest that Lakers hire Doc this summer
Lakers need regular season first and Doc may be able to fix Westbrook
Dammit he’s a doctor, not a miracle worker!
What a loser Doc and Sixers are. He wants to get a pat in the back for win over Raptors. LOL. And now Doc and Embid both can use injuries as excuse for getting eliminated. What can you expect from a guy who leaves his wife of 30 yrs for a girl as young as his daughter. And he wants to be known as a man of character amd activist. :(
This is like the 5th time this week you have called a different NBA star a loser
Maybe work on yourself a tad before chastising other peoples character
Embiid is very talented. But he talks too much. Nobody feels sorry for him. He’s been crying all yr for the MVP. Needs to let his playing do the talking.
It’s time to see the Real Harden. Embiid can come back later. Sixers can still compete with Heat. One gm at a time.
Yeah he sure is a whiny baby. Good player but definitely one of the most unlikeable guys in the league.
This is the second Thad Young praise of the Raptors caught by HR. Young did get set aside by the Spurs and maybe by the Bulls and Pacers due to age, despite decent stats… so if the Raps did as they promised him they would look good in comparison…
Or, the Toronto media needed a quote machine. Or, the FO wanted to justify moving Dragic in getting him, so advised him to talk in glowing terms of the org.
Just enabling my natural cynicism there.
Doc rivers notorious for blowing playoff leads seems like a thing ESPN made up. Cause I’ve never heard anyone care about this before. Plus he’s only coached a legit contender twice: once in Boston and once this year. The rest of his teams were pretty mediocre.
The Clippers with Kawhi and PG were mediocre? They should have won the title in the bubble but collapsed epically against Denver.
All the talk of Embid getting hurt and not one word of the fact that the injured centre was still in a game that late in a blowout. This is why Doc deserves all the criticism about his coaching philosophy.
“…helping showcase the play of Seth Curry and Andre Drummond to help make them appetizing trade bait for the team’s eventual trade to acquire Harden.” What a bizarre hypothesis to credit Rivers for basically playing the guys who didn’t suck