Tonight the Philadelphia 76ers return home for Game Five pissed off after their worst loss of the year against the Atlanta Hawks in game four. After the loss, the Hawks were certainly feeling themselves on Monday despite hanging on by a thread during Joel Embiid’s worst game of his career. Embiid, who continues to battle a knee injury, shot a brutal 4/20 from the floor, and the Sixers lost game four 103-100. The series is now tied at 2-2, and the Sixers need to handle business tonight at home to take a 3-2 lead heading into Game 6.
The outcome of this series depends heavily on the health of Joel Embiid. During Game Four, Embiid was GASSED big time, going 0-12 in the second half and showing significant signs of fatigue. Following the game, there weren’t any signs of concern from Doc Rivers or the big man himself, so this was likely a one-off performance.
Despite that, I don’t think Joel will have all of his energy back tonight because of the quick turnaround. Last night Embiid was named to the All-NBA 2nd team, so between that and Clint Capela’s comments, hopefully the big fella will be able to find some extra motivation and come out tonight locked in, ready to put on a show in front of a sold-out crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.
With Joel not likely going to be his usual self, the rest of the 76ers offense will need to step it up. On Monday, they weren’t bad but let Joel take way too many shots while he was clearly having a rough going in the second half. Tobias, Ben, and Seth shot over 50% from the field but had over five shots less than Embiid. When they’re given more opportunities tonight, the Sixers remaining starters need to be efficient if they want to regain the series lead.
Between the upgraded offense and maintaining their defense from Game Four, the 76ers should have an excellent shot to take the series lead in front of their home crowd. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 tonight on TNT.