We don’t need to spend too much time on this one. The Sixers got boat raced on Tuesday night. It wasn’t even competitive. Poor effort, no spirit, just a bad vibe from the beginning. It felt at times like portions of what we watched in the putrid Hawks series from last season. Go into the Thesaurus and find me a word that’s stronger than “abhorrent.”
The Sixers emptied the bench with 8:17 left while down by 29 points. Doc Rivers waved the white flag and signaled the pilot to fire up the plane. We’re coming home for a Game 6. Somebody get David Kelleher a courtside seat and a “My Pillow” from Mike Lindell because we’re gonna need a good luck charm.
Observations and notes:
*It was bizarro when the broadcast suggested that Embiid was playing poorly because he’s bummed about not winning MVP:
Love Sir Charles, and he wasn’t wrong when he said Embiid “wasn’t there tonight,” but dude has a broken face and injured thumb and knew for weeks he wasn’t winning MVP. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t mopey or whatever because he didn’t win an award that we all assumed was going to Nikola Jokic. Plus, he got hit in the face and I think I remember him holding his back at one point, so there’s nothing negative anybody can say about Embiid that can be taken seriously. It’s a miracle the guy is even out there at all. He played injured in Toronto, got further injured from a cheap shot, and is now patched up and playing anyway. What more do you want from the guy?
There was also this:
We might be one game away from the end of the Doc Rivers era. No Negadelphia right now though on that front. We can do that all summer if they crash out again in the second round. There will be plenty of time to hammer the head coach.
I guess the good news is that they’ve shown they can beat Miami two times in a row, but those were both at home (duh), so does anyone have confidence they can go back down to Florida and win a Game 7 on the road? Probably not, but fingers crossed. Another second round exit might break the greater Delaware Valley.