{"id":47203,"date":"2022-05-04T10:58:12","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T14:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=47203"},"modified":"2022-05-04T10:58:12","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T14:58:12","slug":"the-philadelphia-76ers-are-finished-without-joel-embiid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2022\/05\/04\/the-philadelphia-76ers-are-finished-without-joel-embiid\/","title":{"rendered":"The Philadelphia 76ers are Finished Without Embiid"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I know this is not a hot take at all, but the Philadelphia 76ers, without Joel Embiid<\/a>, are not going to survive long in these playoffs. The talent discrepancy was on full display when the red, white, and blue, Philadelphia team, squared off with the Miami Heat. Both teams went on significant runs throughout the game. The 76ers cut it close to finish the first half and took an early lead at the beginning of the third quarter, but Miami seemed to be the aggressor throughout the night. The Heat parried the early run by the 76ers in the second half and won comfortably by 14 points.<\/div>\n

The Philadelphia 76ers are finished without Embiid<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Philadelphia’s lack of depth <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Here the title of the article comes back into the picture. Without Embiid, this 76ers team lacks urgency. The team looked scattered and unorganized on defense. Embiid’s replacement, DeAndre Jordan<\/a>, cannot keep up with quicker bigs like Bam Adebayo<\/a>, and P.J. Tucker<\/a>, who both stretch the defense. The 76ers just seemed to roll over and embrace the onslaught that the Heat laid on them. In order to have any chance in this series, the 76ers roster needs to show up in a big way on Wednesday, May 4th.<\/p>\n

James Harden<\/a>, as infuriating as he is, gets a pass in this game. He was aggressive despite being draped the entire night by Tucker or Jimmy Butler<\/a>. His shooting efficiency was low, but he was getting his teammates involved, being the facilitator they need. Outside of him and Tobias Harris<\/a> (who played extremely well out of nowhere), the rest of the team barely showed up. Tyrese Maxey<\/a>, Georges Niang<\/a>, and Danny Green<\/a> shot a combined 8\/28, for a shooting percentage of 28.6%.<\/p>\n

Even with Embiid, this roster is not deep, expecting big performances from Green or Jordan is not a winning strategy. They have 29 seasons in the NBA combined, and hundreds of more games tallied during playoff runs. A long playoff run is not in the cards for a team constructed like this. This is what happens when you trade all your depth to be rid of Ben Simmons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>