Embiid looms as unknown
If injured center can’t play or is limited vs. Hawks, series gets much tougher
There is a huge unknown in the 76ers-Hawks playoff series that begins Sunday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
When and how much will Sixers star Joel Embiid be able to play? Will he be able to play? And, if he does, will he be close to his customary MVP finalist level?
The Sixers Saturday officially listed Embiid as questionable for Game 1. Doc Rivers had said Wednesday that he was hopeful Embiid would be able to play at some point during the postseason.
Embiid, who suffered a small tear of the right meniscus from a fall in Monday’s Game 4 loss to the Washington Wizards, seemed to move well during a pregame workout before sitting out the clinching Game 5 victory. But the Sixers have a history of taking a cautious approach with Embiid’s injuries.
Some folks think Embiid won’t play at all in the second-round series against Trae Young and Atlanta, while others believe there’s a chance he could be in the lineup as soon as Sunday’s opener.
Following Friday’s practice, Rivers seemed encouraged by what he saw from Embiid.
“He went through a lot of the stuff today — didn’t do a lot of live stuff, obviously [because] we’re not going to allow that yet,” Rivers said. “Nothing’s changed. He’s got to go through his treatment.
“As far as when we were doing shooting and stuff like that, he looked great.”
As for the chances Embiid would play in Game 1, Rivers replied, “It’s too early. I don’t want to say one way or the other, so we’ll just find that out.”
Backup center Dwight Howard said Embiid “looked good (Friday). His movement looked good laterally . ... I think he should be ready to go.
“If not, he can make sure he gets his body right. We don’t want to rush him back or anything like that because we need him.”
Game 2 is set for Tuesday night in South Philadelphia before the best-ofseven series shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Friday evening and Game 4 on June 14.
A healthy Embiid changes the way the top-seeded Sixers play at both ends of the floor. The constant double-teams he encounters can result in open shots for his teammates, and he is virtually unstoppable when he faces single coverage.
On defense, Embiid provides an interior presence and is capable of erasing mistakes if opposing guards get into the lane, as well as switching onto smaller players and staying in front of them with his unusual quickness for a 7-footer.
Embiid would allow Ben Simmons, who played a lot of center in the closeout win over Washington, to match up more with the talented Young.
No Embiid means the Sixers must rely on a more collaborative approach all over the floor. It worked in the Embiid-less 129-112 victory Wednesday.
“That was a whole, collective, group effort,” Tobias Harris said following Game 5 versus Washington. “We’ve had to play without Joel for a whole lot of games (21 during the regular season).”
It’d be interesting to see whether the Sixers could take four of seven from Atlanta if Embiid is unavailable, though they’d rather not have to find out.
The teams’ offensive numbers are quite similar, though the Hawks are better at free-throw shooting (81.2% to 76.7% during the regular season). The Sixers have better defensive numbers, having allowed 3.3 fewer points per game and forced 3.3 more turnovers.
The Hawks went 27-11 after Nate McMillan replaced former Sixers assistant Lloyd Pierce as head coach March 1 and ultimately secured the East’s fifth seed.
YoungisAtlanta’sunquestioned star. He’s not afraid to shoot out to 30 feet at any time and is making better decisions with the ball, as evidenced by his assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.3.
Young flourished in the New York series, where he was unfazed by the Madison Square Garden crowd’s taunts and having a water bottle thrown at him. He averaged 32.7 points in the three games in Manhattan to lead the Hawks to their first playoff series win in five years.
“I feel like I’ve worked my whole life for this moment — in the playoffs on the biggest stage,” Young said. “I have confidence in myself. I know I’m built for this.”
Rivers has been impressed by Young since the latter’s rookie year in 2018-19.
“He’s good for a reason,” Rivers said of Young. “I’ve always said with guys like Tre, if you slow them down that easily, they wouldn’t be great scorers.”
Young has benefited from a better supporting cast this year than in 2019-20.
Bogdan Bogdanovic, who signed a four-year, $72 million free-agent contract with the Hawks in November, was the most significant addition. He hit 43.8% of his 3-pointers in the regular season. Forward John Collins knocked down 39.9% of his attempts behind the arc.
“He has so many other guys to play with,” Rivers said. “They have a ton of shooting and a ton of playmakers on the floor, and that’s what makes him so much more difficult. You just can’t leave guys and go trap like we did in the Washington series.”
Young knows it too.
“We have a team that can surprise a lot of people, but we can’t surprise ourselves,” Young said.
The next goal for Atlanta is to surprise the Sixers with a trip to the conference finals on the line. How much and how well Embiid plays figures to have a tremendous impact on which team gets to play the winner of the Nets-Bucks series.
Prediction: Sixers in 7