Does Philadelphia Stand A Chance Against Miami Without Joel Embiid?
Down as many as 14 points in the first quarter, the Philadelphia 76ers did not give up in Game 1 against the Miami Heat on Monday night, outscoring Miami 29-20 in the second quarter to take a surprising 1-point lead into halftime.
Without Joel Embiid, everything seemed to be going well for the 76ers, as their defense was creating havoc for the Heat’s offense and the trio of Tyrese Maxey, James Harden and Tobias Harris all looked comfortable on the floor offensively.
Coming out of the break though, the second-half of this game was all Miami, as the Heat outscored the 76ers 56-41 in the second-half to take a 1-0 series lead with a 106-92 victory in Game 1.
Philadelphia did look good for the first 24 minutes of this game, but in those final 24 minutes, Joel Embiid’s absence was really felt.
Embiid is currently sidelined due to a concussion and orbital fracture that he suffered late in Game 6 against the Toronto Raptors and his status for the rest of this semifinals series against the Heat is very much up-in-the-air at this point.
On Tuesday following the loss, Sixers’ head coach Doc Rivers did state that the All-Star, potential MVP, center did some things on Monday to start the concussion protocol process and he did note that Embiid is feeling a little better.
This is definitely an encouraging sign for 76ers’ fans, but Rivers did go on to state that he does not want to give “false hope” for where Joel Embiid is at in the recovery process. It is possible that Embiid could return in time for the end of this series, but the question now is will it be too late?
James Harden just has not looked like the MVP James Harden we have known over the years and with Tobias Harris being an inconsistent scoring option, the 76ers’ best player right now may very well be second-year guard Tyrese Maxey.
Going up against Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, P.J. Tucker and an experienced Heat team that was just recently in the NBA Finals in 2020, it is really hard to imagine that Maxey has what it takes to be the No. 1 option on a team that beats the Heat in a seven-game playoff series.
Joel Embiid means everything to the Philadelphia 76ers and without him right now, it is really hard to say that the Sixers have a chance to win a game in this series, yet alone this series as a whole.
“I didn't like how we moved the ball,” Sixers’ head coach Doc River spoke after the game. “I thought we passed late tonight. I thought the physicality affected us tonight and that had an impact. There were too many times, we'd take the extra dribble and by the time we passed it they got there.”
As mentioned before, the 76ers really got inside the Heat’s heads during the first-half and took the lead heading into halftime, but all of Philadelphia’ adrenaline was lost in the second-half when Miami found their footing.
“I liked how we fought back,” Rivers went on to say. “I liked how we came out at the beginning of the third quarter ... and then I didn't like the rest of the game from that point on.”
Tobias Harris scored a team-high 27 points for the 76ers in Game 1 and while James Harden was aggressive and scored 12 points in the first-half, he finished the game with only 16 points.
Since the start of the playoffs, many have been questioning whether or not Harden still has the ability to be the former league-MVP he was with the Houston Rockets since his numbers have taken a massive hit and while he has struggled at times, Tyrese Maxey has been the guy keeping everyone’s morale up and stepping into more of a leadership role with Embiid sidelined.
“It's doable. It is doable,” Maxey said in regards to his team’s chances of winning. “It's not totally out of reach.”
Maxey’s confidence is definitely something that resonates with this entire Philadelphia 76ers’ team, but at the end of the day, no Joel Embiid truly translates to no victories for the Sixers.
Dating back to the regular season, the 76ers did beat the Heat 113-106 without both Joel Embiid and James Harden against a fully-loaded Miami Heat team with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro, but that was the regular season.
The Heat look locked in right now in the playoffs and they are on a quest to make it back to the NBA Finals. Philadelphia’s chances in this series continue to decline every minute that Joel Embiid is unable to go, casting doubt on what the future holds for Philadelphia.
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