As far as gut-punching losses go, this one is certainly has to be up there.
The Sixers seemed to be cruising, up 83-58 with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter, on the way to a 3-2 series lead over the Atlanta Hawks. Joel Embiid was playing like the best player in the world, Seth Curry was having a career game and a sold-out stadium of Sixers fans could see the path to the Eastern Conference Finals opening back up.
Then it all, somehow, fell apart.
This is a loss that will be remembered in the Philadelphia sports history books for a long time, right up there with the 2003 NFC Championship loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the 2011 loss by the Phillies in the NLDS to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The good news is that unlike those losses, the Sixers are not eliminated just yet. They still have life, as unrealistic as that might sound right now.
Can they come back and win the series? Who is to blame for putting them in this mess?
Here are my thoughts on the crushing loss, the issues with this team and the potential of a comeback:
*** It is hard to start anywhere but with Ben Simmons when it comes to how this loss happened. Although it seemed to happen in a flash, it was actually years in the making. For years a portion of the fanbase has been saying that Simmons needed to be more aggressive, needed to start shooting from long-distance and needed to be more of a scorer from the point-guard position. For years, another portion of the fanbase — and the head coach — has told them they were wrong.
On Wednesday night we got our final answer on who was correct.
Even more terrible than the 4-14 shooting from the line, which was extremely terrible, might be the 2-4 from the field. The Sixers drafted Simmons No. 1 overall, they paid him a max-deal and they made him a cornerstone of the franchise. In return, in the biggest game this franchise has played in recent years, he shot the ball four times from the point-guard position. Simmons looked disinterested in having the ball in the second half, dribbling it up the court, passing it at the top of the key and then just lingering by the basket each possession. He not only didn't try to take over the game, he seems to run away from it.
That is unacceptable and a big-picture problem that the Sixers have to find an answer to this offseason. They simply can't move forward with a point guard that is such a massive liability as a scorer on the offensive side of the court. Finding a trade partner for Simmons won't be easy this offseason, but moving on from him might have to be the top priority once this season does come to an end.
*** It is an interesting question as to how much of this crushing loss falls on the (real) MVP of the league. Embiid was amazing for three quarters, looking a level of unstoppable that NBA fans saw from Kevin Durant the night before, and have seen from Steph Curry throughout his career. He came out, dominated from the jump and put the Hawks away on both sides of the court.
Then, the fourth quarter happened.
The best players in the league, the ones that win titles and cement their place in the top-five discussion, win games in the fourth quarter. Embiid went 1-4 in the fourth last night, and missed two crucial free throws in the final seconds to pretty much put the nail in the coffin of the devastating loss. In a season where he has come up big so often, and carried the team so perfectly, he came up small.
Still, it is hard to blame him, because the issue is more the blueprint than the player. It is very, very hard to build around a center in today's NBA. With how high-scoring and fast-paced the game is, built around scoring in the 100s every night and doing it with threes, having your best offensive weapon be a center is tough. Embiid isn't coming up small in the fourth quarter because he is scared, or out of shape, or not good enough. He is coming up small because it is hard for any human that is 7-foot, 280 pounds to dominate the way he does for four quarters (especially with a torn meniscus).
For the Sixers to win a title with Embiid they are going to have to pair him with better guard play, giving him a legitimate scoring threat on the wing to take the pressure off of him, and not require him to dominate the ball so much in the first three quarters, keeping him fresh for the fourth. It is simply too much to ask for Embiid's body to hold up over a long playoff run, and it is looking unrealistic to expect him to dominate for three quarters and then also bring the team a win in the fourth.
Yes, the Sixers needed Embiid to be better than 1-4 for in the fourth. The poor plan of making Simmons and Tobias Harris the team's primary guards/wing players, however, set Embiid up to fail.
*** Speaking of Simmons and Harris, last night was the team's biggest fear come to life in front of everyone's eyes — the duo just aren't good enough when it matters. Yes, they can both shine in the regular season, they can both look great at times, but they simply are not the primary wings you want when it matters. That is a major problem for a Sixers team that has invested a max deal in both of them.
*** Despite all the Sixers problems, both short-and-long term, the reality is this series is still very much there to be won.
All season this team has reminded me of the 2017 Eagles in how they simply found ways to win. The Eagles dealt with injuries all season, and still, they won. The Sixers had been like that up until Wednesday night. They won all season despite injuries, challenges with the schedule and other factors out of their control. They looked like a special group despite their obvious flaws, much like the Eagles did in 2017.
If you remember, the playoffs that year were not a smooth ride for the Eagles. They looked terrible against Atlanta and looked bad against Minnesota to start the game. Then, they came back and won the whole thing.
Perhaps this loss to Atlanta by the Sixers is the moment the Eagles fell behind 7-0 to the Vikings, which was the lowest moment of the Eagles' playoff run. The moment everyone in Lincoln Financial Field thought it was over. The moment that ultimately proved to be when the Eagles took off and never looked back.
The Sixers can still have that moment. They dominated the Hawks in Game 3 in Atlanta and were dominating them in Game 4 before blowing it. They can win in Atlanta. If they do, they go back to Philadelphia, where they will have home court for the crucial Game 7, and have mostly dominated the Hawks outside of two crucial quarters.
The Sixers, despite their flaws, are good enough to pull this off. They are not done yet. Winning these next two games won't solve their long-term problems, but it is definitely possible — and perhaps should still be expected despite how unrealistic it might feel right now.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
