A pivotal second on this Philadelphia 76ers season would possibly’ve taken place in the midst of the night time this week alongside I-95 in rural Maryland.
Monday night time was dangerous for the Sixers. They misplaced star Joel Embiid to a knee harm that might value him a number of playoff video games and threaten their title hopes. They fell aside with out him within the second half that night time, permitting the Washington Wizards to win Recreation 4 and lengthen their first-round collection. After which their constitution airplane broke down, they usually needed to take buses again to Philadelphia.
However by 6 a.m. Tuesday, when the Sixers rolled into residence, there was a distinct outlook. The bus experience changed into an open remedy session and altered gamers’ state of mind.
“It was a possibility for the workforce to bond. It was us simply chopping it up and speaking,” Tobias Harris mentioned. “We let that recreation go and simply mentioned, ‘Hey, we’re going to win the subsequent one and hold it rolling.’”
Utilizing a distinct lineup and a distinct technique, the 76ers walloped the Wizards 129-112 on Wednesday night time in Recreation 5 to shut out a 4-1 collection win. And to construct some momentum as they cope with the fact of not having their MVP candidate whereas they put together for a second-round collection towards the Atlanta Hawks.
The Sixers are calling Embiid day-to-day with a small tear in his proper meniscus, and he buoyed hopes when he shot round with teammates earlier than the sport. He appears to have averted — or be pushing aside — surgical procedure for now, however coach Doc Rivers was decidedly noncommittal about when Embiid may realistically return.
That has the Sixers, the highest seeds within the East and winners of 14 of their previous 17 video games general, difficult one another to outlive and advance.
“We’ve received the items and instruments to do it,” mentioned Ben Simmons, who had 19 factors, 10 rebounds and 11 assists within the win. “We’ve been on this scenario earlier than in the course of the season. We all know what we now have to do.”
Rivers and his teaching workers checked out about 10 totally different beginning lineup combos earlier than selecting placing ahead Matisse Thybulle within the lineup and taking part in small and with extra tempo. With out Embiid’s robust post-up recreation, the Sixers additionally ran extra offense than standard by means of guard Seth Curry, placing him in pick-and-rolls with Harris.
Curry had a career-playoff-high 30 factors as he repeatedly was capable of finding house for clear appears to be like. Harris, in a playmaking position as properly, had 28 factors and 6 assists.
When Embiid went down with a left knee harm in March, the 76ers went 7-3 with out him, together with 4-2 on a protracted Western journey. That have gave them confidence Wednesday and, gamers mentioned, going ahead within the postseason towards a Hawks workforce that has been equally scorching.
“We all know we’ve received sufficient with out Joel on the market to win a couple of video games,” Curry mentioned. “We don’t have a alternative — we’ve received to have that confidence and imagine. We’ve received quite a lot of assured guys. Joel has been large for us all 12 months. It’s solely proper for us to present him as a lot time as he must get again and assist us win all of it.”
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