What the Philadelphia 76ers need to do to win this series
A lot of the 76ers’ success in this series and in the postseason is going to depend on the health of Joel Embiid. In Game 4 against the Wizards, Embiid left the game with right knee discomfort and it was later revealed that he has a small tear in his meniscus in his right knee.
Embiid is not going to undergo surgery to repair this injury and he is considered day-to-day by the 76ers based on pain tolerance and ability to move, but this is still a significant injury that could linger throughout the rest of the playoffs.
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It is said to be a small tear, but at the end of the day, a tear is a tear and this could really affect Joel Embiid against a bigger, stronger center like Clint Capela. If Embiid is not able to move the way he normally does, then he could end up not being the MVP-caliber player that he has proven to be, which would definitely shift things in favor of the Hawks.
As a result, Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons and Seth Curry need to be ready to carry the load on offense for the 76ers in this series. In Game 5 against Wahsington without Joel Embiid, the 76ers leaned on these three guys for production and they delivered.
Tobias Harris scored 28 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and dished out 6 assists in this game, Ben Simmons recorded a 19-10-11 triple-double and Seth Curry scored a playoff career-high 30 points on 10-17 shooting from the floor.
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Now, Curry is not going to score 30 points per game in this series against the Hawks and will definitely be swarmed on the three-point line, which is why a lot of the weight could fall on secondary guys like Danny Green, Tyrese Maxey and George Hill.
All three of these guys will have to be threats on offense both from the three-point line and getting inside the paint in this series, especially if Joel Embiid is to miss any games. The Sixers’ offense has been the key to their success all season long and will need to be in this series for them to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
