Joel Embiid Acknowledges Sixers' Key Concern After Win vs. Pacers

The Philadelphia 76ers were quite confident going into Tuesday night's game against the Indiana Pacers. Knowing they already have a spot in the Eastern

The Philadelphia 76ers were quite confident going into Tuesday night's game against the Indiana Pacers. Knowing they already have a spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sixers didn't have any pressure on themselves on Tuesday.

You could tell through the first quarter that the Sixers were loose and confident. As the team drilled eight three-pointers, the Sixers rallied for 33 points in the first quarter. 

Then, their second quarter was on another level. Taking 11 threes as a team, the 76ers drilled over 80-percent of their shots from beyond the arc before halftime. They exploded by scoring nearly 50 points in the second quarter alone. 

Going into halftime, it seemed the Sixers were well on their way to an easy blowout win as the Pacers trailed 82-59. But then Indiana had a nice run of their own in the third quarter. While the Sixers' offense was still stellar in the third quarter as they drained 47-percent of their shots and hit on 50-percent of their threes, the Pacers rallied with 40 points.

And a once 27-point lead from the Sixers was just a ten-point lead going into the fourth quarter. In a game where the Sixers should've been able to utilize some old school load management -- Philadelphia needed its starters to close it out.

Joel Embiid Reacts 

"We played great, but we got to finish," said Sixers center Joel Embiid after the game.

Although Embiid should be happy with the win and excited about the fact that he boosted his chances of winning MVP with another 40-plus point outing, the big man doesn't lack self-awareness for his team.

"We gotta learn how to finish," Embiid continued. "There's no reason why the starters should have played in the fourth. I feel like coming from halftime, we didn't keep our foot on the gas and try to extend the lead to make sure that we don't play in the fourth, so those are the next steps."

Against a non-playoff team like the Pacers, the Sixers can get away with taking their foot off the gas in the second half and remain confident in their ability to snag the win. However, that won't fly in the playoffs. Therefore, Embiid and the Sixers know they have to clean up their crunch-time performance before it's too late.

 Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.