Joel Embiid Calls Out Sixers' Lack of Consistency in Game 5 vs. Heat
The Philadelphia 76ers' hot streak cooled down on Tuesday night against the Miami Heat. After bouncing back from two-straight losses with back-to-back wins at home, Joel Embiid and the Sixers hoped to steal a game on the road for the first time in their second-round series against the Heat in Game 5.
Unfortunately, the Sixers struggled in every area of the game on Tuesday night and found themselves without a chance to win early on.
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers pointed to several reasons why his team came up short in Game 5. Rivers primarily pointed out the Sixers' lack of physicality, which is something the star guard James Harden certainly agreed with.
When Sixers center Joel Embiid addressed the media following the game, he admitted that his squad lacked consistency and got off track early, which made it hard to recover from when the Heat built on the momentum they gained from the start.
“I don’t think we’ve been consistent," said Embiid. "Like tonight, we weren’t focused enough, and we didn’t play hard. We didn’t follow the game plan."
Despite putting on a lackluster effort in the first half, the Sixers trailed by just 12 points going into halftime. A comeback was possible -- but the Heat weren't taking their foot off the gas -- and the Sixers weren't doing anything to change that.
"It was just too easy for them offensively," Embiid finished. "We just have to be locked in and play like we played those last two games.”
As the poor performance leaked over into the second half, the Sixers took collected a blowout 120-85 loss on Tuesday. With that defeat, they dropped to 2-3 on the series.
The Sixers and the Heat will meet for Game 6 on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly. A win for Philly forces a Game 7 and gives the Sixers one final shot to pick up a road win in order to advance to the next round. A loss for Philly would put an end to their 2022 playoff run.
More Sixers News:
Doc Rivers Sounds Off After Game 5: Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers highlights several factors that played into his team’s struggles in Game 5 against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
Joel Embiid Reacts to MVP Loss: Despite coming up short in the NBA MVP race for the second season in a row, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid doesn’t have any hard feelings over the results. After Game 5, the veteran big man congratulated Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic for winning the award once again. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
