Force of circumstance
Just as in the regular season, injuries have become part and parcel of the 2022 National Basketball Association Playoffs. For those casting moist eyes on the Larry O’Brien Trophy, acceptance is a boon; all the pregame conditioning can be trumped by force of circumstance, and, once it is, there is no choice but to deal with it by adopting a next-man-up mentality. It’s certainly what the Raptors did in avoiding a sweep yesterday, and it’s what the Sixers plan to do in gunning for the series victory tomorrow.
Not that the favorites didn’t try their best in Game Four. Notwithstanding the right thumb injury that Most Valuable Player candidate Joel Embiid had to play through, the match was close for the most part. Only a third into the fourth quarter did the Raptors pull away on the strength of grit and motivation fueled by the 19,800-strong crowd at the Scotiabank Arena. Significantly, the hosts managed to win even with second-leading scorer Fred VanVleet needing to be sidelined close to the end of the first half due to a strained left hip.
To be sure, the odds of moving on to the next round of the postseason remain in the Sixers’ favor. Owing to their Game Three triumph in overtime off Embiid’s last-second heroics, they’re still up three to one, and will need only one more win over the next three outings to secure a spot in the Eastern Conference semifinals. And if head coach Doc Rivers has any say on it, he figures on closing the deal tomorrow. “We’ll be ready, I can guarantee you that,” he argued. The flipside is that he just so happens to be the only bench tactician in league history to blow three three-one series advantages.
Make no mistake. The Raptors will be ready. Never mind that they’re not fashionable picks. Forget that they lack marquee names. For all their handicaps in talent and skill, they’re never outworked. And if there’s anything they can say at the end of every outing, it’s that they left everything on the floor. They’ll certainly do so once more, VanVleet or no, and whether or not newly minted Rookie of the Year awardee Scottie Barnes will suit up in full strength. In other words, the Sixers are in for a dogfight, and will have to earn the right to advance.