2023-2024 Sixers Season

[schillingfan]

Josh Harris looks like he's buying another Philadelphia rival, looks like he is buying the Washington Commanderr. Now he just needs to buy a baseball team

Apparently he tried to buy the Mets, but was outbid by Cohen.

[VoteForKalas]

76ers edge out a sloppy win against the Nets to go up 2-0 in the series.

The first half they looked like the JV squad at Temple, but the Nets luckily could not take advantage and let us hang around long enough to steal it in the 2nd half.

Love BBall Paul and how he is playing when Embiid takes a rest. Maxey & Harris continue to shine. Harden needs to be more aggressive and make defenses pay for playing off him and doubling Embiid. Every time Embiid hits the floor, I cringe. Please stay healthy, please.

They need to sweep this series since Boston will likely do the same vs the Hawks. Then it is for all the marbles especially if Giannis is injured badly and the Bucks get knocked out early.

[zambonir]

Yeah it's nice to see them steal one ugly, and w/o the two stars leading the way but I kind of doubt they will be able to do that against Boston. Sweep is probably also a tall order - it happens just 23% of the time (by the high seed, that is!) but the Hawks could steal one too.

Sounds like Giannis is fine. Hurting, maybe, but doesn't that just make him like a Sixers player? If they can beat the Celtics bring on anyone though.

[bkeich]

Watched the 3rd game this morning.

That is the softest Flagrant-2 call I have ever seen on Harden. It was really just a common foul, Harden was making a move and pushed off with his elbow.

That said, Embiid probably should have been tossed in the first quarter. He did a kick that should have been a flagrant-2 not a 1 as it was called.

The Nets are clearly trying to injure Embiid. Claxton's only intent on the floor was to cause Embiid to either lose his temper or injure him. This is where Tucker needs to step in and knock him around a little.

The Sixers must win game 4. Embiid is going to need the rest, in fact I would try to limit his minutes in game 4 if they can get a big lead.

[VoteForKalas]

Again, the biggest thing to me is the 76ers still have not put together a full 60 minute consistent game in this first round.

Game 1 was close, but Game 2 they were sloppy and had to scratch & claw to win at home and last night they hit the skids again in the 3rd quarter, turning the ball over constantly and almost completely melting down.

The Harden ejection actually helped them IMO because it compelled Maxey to step up, Embiid was able to stabilize his emotions, Tucker made some clutch rebounds, the shots started to fall in and they were able to squeak it out.

It was a total dagger to the Nets collective heart because they had that game in the bag and allowed the 76ers to grab it from their hands. If the series is 2-1 with all the wins at home, the Nets could still be confident they had a chance, but now they have to be wondering when they'll ever have a better shot at winning one of these games than last night.

I agree with bkeich that we need to close it out Saturday and get that extra rest. Boston plays Game 3 tonight and will likely sweep Atlanta Sunday. Embiid is already banged up with the knee and Harden looked slow before his ejection. Get it done tomorrow or we'll likely lose in the 2nd round again.

[zambonir]

Get it done tomorrow or we'll likely lose in the 2nd round again.

They likely will anyway. But with the sweep at least they have a better chance. Win one in Boston and make it good series. Doubt they can win a seven-game - both because of home court and wear-and-tear but I'd still take it.

[VoteForKalas]

They likely will anyway. But with the sweep at least they have a better chance. Win one in Boston and make it good series. Doubt they can win a seven-game - both because of home court and wear-and-tear but I'd still take it.

Better chance is right. I think they can beat Boston, but Boston is favored due to home court and having better depth. Embiid and Harden will need to be forces to make it happen and thus the extra rest is crucial.

[bkeich]

Embiid to skip game 4 vs Nets, which to me is a great idea. Maybe they can win without him, either way I hate exposing him to a team that is trying to either injure or get him a suspension. If Claxton keeps trying to get a Sixer suspended I certainly hope whoever is 15th on our bench comes in and cleans his clock.

[zambonir]

Problem is he's actually hurt. Probably would miss Game 5 too if there is one. God forbid we have to wonder beyond that.

Certainly they can win without him. Maybe not easily but the last two haven't been easy either.

[xogfog]

No Embiid, no problem, Sixers sweep the Nets and will get some much needed time off, hopefully the Hawks will win at least one more game and push the Celtics to 6 and give Embiid time to be ready for game 1 of the Celtics series.

[phillychuck]

Doc said repeatedly after the game that Joel is less than 50:50 to be ready for the start of the Celtics series. He has got to figure out how to stay healthy in the playoffs if the Sixers have any chance.

[zambonir]

This has always been the Joel story unfortunately. He was hurt when they drafted him - and only got to draft him because he was hurt - and I don't think there's really any amount of nutrition and training (assuming he did finally get the former under better control) that can keep a man of his size from getting injured, both in terms of the basic stress on his body parts and on how much force is generated when he does make contact (with another player of the floor). Can't really change how he plays either. And yet most of the injuries that have kept him out of the playoffs (two orbital bone fractures, thumb) before this one are more bad luck (or in the one case Siakam's fault) than being an injury-prone player.

It stinks that we're all like, "get the sweep so Joel isn't hurt again by the second round" and he didn't even make it through Game 3.

[bkeich]

Atlanta extends the series with the Celtics, giving Embiid more time to rest. Dare we hope that Atlanta can win at home and take the Celtics to 7? Really, really dream that the Hawks then win.

[zambonir]

That is great, though I suspect Joel was going to miss a game or two no matter what. Series starts May 1 instead of April 29 now. By Game 3 (May 5) it's on the same schedule either way (less time off between Games 2 and 3 and no extra off days until Game 7).

If he misses Game 1 he'll have had more than 10 days off instead of a week. If he has to miss Games 1 and 2 (but let's hope not) he'll have had more than two full weeks.

Still a big concern what his effectiveness might be especially if, as rumored, he'll wear a brace.

[zambonir]

Rivers: Embiid likely doubtful for G1 vs. Celtics

Not even practicing yet. It's not impossible that he misses this entire series (or comes back too soon and goes out again).

[bkeich]

Is it likely or doubtful?

[zambonir]

Sources: The knee injury 76ers star Joel Embiid suffered April 20 is considered to be more serious than a Grade 1 LCL sprain. He is currently doubtful for Game 1 vs. Boston.

— Shams Charania ( @ShamsCharania ) April 29, 2023

[bkeich]

... my guess is he will play, but who knows. The guy is of course crazy tough, but unfortunately this is the death sound for this team this year. They have to find a way to not wear him down every year, a good backup Cemter would help (Paul Reed is great to root for, and no one tries harder, but he isn't much of a threat, but he has improved 100% this year).

[phillychuck]

Sit him the first 30-40 games of next season, then limit him to 2 games per week. The team this year would have a chance if he were healthy. Gotta try something way outside the box since normal strategies are not working.

[zambonir]

Just not sure that would really work. You can break your orbital bone or sprain your knee from contact whether you played 80 games or 8. And even with Joel the team would have a much better chance of winning this series with home court. Conversely extreme load management makes them a 4 or 5 or 7 seed and they don't even get out of the first round (even if Miami did this time).