The Sixers completed their sweep of the Nets over the weekend but they didn’t come out of the first round unscathed. In fact, an injury to Joel Embiid in the playoffs is likely worse than a loss or two to Brooklyn in the first round.
The good news for the Sixers is that they’ll have a few extra days off between their Game 4 on Saturday and the first game of the second round. The Celtics are the Sixers’ likely second-round opponent and Boston has a chance to close out their series against Atlanta on Tuesday night.
An injured Embiid in the playoffs isn’t anything new for the Sixers, unfortunately, but this year might be different.
Kyle Neubeck and Eliot Shorr-Parks of the Audacy Original Podcast "Clap Your Hands" discussed Embiid's injury and why this year may be when the Sixers and their MVP push it to the limit in the playoffs.
“In so much as there can be optimism here, where your best player’s hurt in the playoffs once again, it does seem like this is not like a severe ‘he’s going to be out several weeks’ sprain,” Neubeck said (5:10 in player above). “The trouble is there’s been a lot of reporting [from plugged-in people] saying optimism and he could be back for this, he could be back for that. I want people to understand that all that is hope. It is informed hope, to some degree, but Joel’s going to wake up today and tomorrow and the next day and you can only take it a day at a time.
“Nobody’s recovery timeline is the same and some of this is going to come down to he’s probably not going to be fully healthy just period the rest of the way now. It’s going to be very difficult for him to get hurt and then you’re just 100% without any real rest time the rest of the way. So a lot of this comes down to what is the degree of pain that Joel can tolerate and is willing to play with and that the team will look at and say ‘This is not putting you at additional risk of severe injury.’”
The Sixers have now made the playoffs in six straight seasons and have won three straight first-round series under Doc Rivers. However, that’s where playoff basketball in South Philly has come to a halt.
They’re at risk of another second-round exit with a likely matchup against a vaunted Celtics team. And if that happens, James Harden has the opportunity to leave town.
“Where I think this season is maybe distinguished from seasons past is that I think you probably have to lean more toward the risk side because of the ramifications organizationally,” Neubeck continued. “Look, we can all sit here and say if he’s hurt and they lose that series and it’s already a series I would’ve picked Boston to win in regardless, we can say – the rational side of your brain says – ‘Just run it back next year. They clearly were very good. They were unfortunate.’
“But like after this many years of this with James Harden and all the whispers about Houston and potentially leaving, coach might not survive a second-round exit. All this stuff adds up to if you’re not going to make a push for it now then when are you going to? I think that’s kind of the calculus that comes up here. It’s not all in Joel’s hands – certainly, the organization has a say – but a lot of this is just going to come down to how much are you willing to redline it with a chance to maybe win the title this year?”
Only time will tell what happens with the Sixers and Embiid in these playoffs, but if there was ever a year to go for it, it’s now.
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