The Sixers will go as far in the playoffs as Joel Embiid carries them
By Duncan Smith
The Philadelphia 76ers are a team on the rise in spite of not having played a game in almost four months. Joel Embiid is a big reason for this optimism.
The NBA has been in a state of stasis for almost four months. No games, no shifts in the standings. A team that sat in first place on March 11th remains in first place here in the second week of July. Similarly, a team that sat in sixth place on March 11th remains nothing but a sixth-place team. However, that team, the Philadelphia 76ers, is a squad on the rise thanks to Joel Embiid.
As we learned earlier this week, the Sixers are actually highly-regarded by projections, at least those of FiveThirtyEight, who forecasts them to be the second-most likely Eastern Conference team (behind the Milwaukee Bucks) to make the NBA Finals and to win if they get there.
The Sixers had a disappointing season thus far with a 39-23 record, well below the heights they expected to find this season, but enough about them remains promising and exciting that they’re still in play for a major run in the NBA’s restarted season.
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Among the reasons for this: Ben Simmons is healthy after having back-related injury issues leading up to the league’s coronavirus-induced hiatus, and Al Horford should be healthy and ready to go as well after a break of several months. The biggest reason for this heightened optimism, however, is Joel Embiid’s defensive frontcourt dominance.
We’ll take a look at just how Embiid can impact winning for his Sixers teammates.