Is It Time For The Philadelphia 76ers To Hit The "Panic Button" Against Toronto?
Losing one game when leading a playoff series 3-0 is no big deal, but losing another game and now only being up 3-2 in the series is a little worrisome.
This is the scenario the Philadelphia 76ers are facing right now against the Toronto Raptors, as Toronto has won back-to-back games to make what looked to be a dead series very intriguing.
Joel Embiid and the 76ers seemed to be in complete control of this series following their Game 3 overtime victory in Toronto, but Nick Nurse’s crew has not backed down and now, they own all the momentum in this series.
“We get one, and it’s not 3-0 anymore. And 3-1 has been done,” Nurse said after his team’s loss in Game 3 last Wednesday. Now, almost a week later, his team is in a position to not only even up this series, but force a Game 7.
On Thursday night, the Raptors will host the 76ers in what could turn out to be the biggest game of the season for both teams, especially since the series will either end with the Sixers winning or be extended to a decisive Game 7 with a Raptors’ victory.
In Game 5 on Monday, the Raptors defeated the 76ers 103-88 on the road and Philadelphia seems shell-shocked right now.
Their 88 points was the Sixers’ lowest scoring output since March 20 when they were held to 88 points by none other than the Toronto Raptors.
Held to just 15 points on 4-11 shooting, James Harden really struggled in Game 5 for the 76ers and this has seemed to be a recurring theme as of late.
The All-Star guard has only scored 20-plus points twice in this playoff series against Toronto and over his last ten games dating back to the regular season, Harden is averaging just 17.1 points per game on 36.7% shooting from the floor, 32.3% from three-point range.
“I mean, I’ve been saying all season since he got here, he needs to be aggressive and he news to be himself,” Embiid said of Harden after the game. “That’s not really my job, that’s probably on coach to talk to him and tell him to take more shots. Especially if they’re going to guard me the way they’ve been guarding. But that’s not really my job.”
While they are still in front in this series, Embiid’s comments after Game 5 are definitely troublesome for Philadelphia fans, especially given the context in which he said all of this.
The 76ers’ MVP candidate is very clearly frustrated with how Harden has been playing and with Embiid dealing with his own problems given his thumb injury, the Sixers’ backs are very much up against the wall in this series.
Should the Philadelphia 76ers lose Game 6 on the road and have to host a Game 7, winner takes all battle on their home court, the 76ers’ fanbase and organization is going to be having bad flashbacks to last season when they were up 2-1 on the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, only to lose the series in seven games.
Another blown lead in a playoff series could wind up being detrimental to the 76ers as an organization.
Everything hinges on Game 6 on Wednesday night for the city of Philadelphia and should they be unable to close out this series in Toronto, it is hard to imagine that they will be mentally ready for Game 7 on Saturday.
Going “all-in” for a championship by trading for James Harden at the trade deadline this season, panic is definitely beginning to set in for the Philadelphia 76ers even though they lead 3-2 in their first-round series over the Toronto Raptors.
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