With the status of Joel Embiid up in the air for the upcoming 2nd Round series between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers, it might come down to the performance of Philly's Ben Simmons to determine who advances to the Eastern Conference Finals.
There is some thought that Ben Simmons could be used as a point-center while Embiid is out which could create some interesting defensive matchups for the Hawks.
Simmons is clearly too big for Trae Young to defend when he moves to a low-post game, but if Simmons spends a lot of time in the paint, it's easy to imagine him seeing a lot of Hawks Center Clint Capela down low.
76ers Beat Writer Keith Pompey, who covers the team for the Philly Inquirer, spoke about why Clint Capela could be the true X-Factor for the hawks in this series.
"I keep thinking about Clint Capela just because of his athleticism. There were certain times in the past where Joel (Embiid) didn't have great games against him," says Keith Pompey. "In the past whenever the Sixers would play Ben Simmons at the 5 against Atlanta they never had anyone who could match up with him. John Collins is athletic, but they never had one that could match up with Ben in regards to complete athleticism. Clint Capela can, and his shot blocking ability can alter some things. As an X-Factor, he can be one, especially if Joel Embiid is a little gimpy."
To hear all of Keith Pompey's thoughts ahead of the Hawks-76ers 2nd Round series, click here.