Quick thoughts: Sixers’ sweep of the Nets’ gives an injured Joel Embiid plenty of time to heal
NEW YORK — They needed this before Joel Embiid was injured. Afterwards, they might not have been able to live without it. One day after learning that their MVP-contending big man would be sidelined indefinitely with a sprained knee, the Sixers gave themselves plenty of time to recuperate and/or adapt,
to sweep their first round playoff series and give themselves at least a week of rest before a likely second round matchup against the Celtics.1. The Sixers took care of business This series hasn’t always been pretty, and we’ve seen some things that support the idea that they will struggle to get past Boston in the conference semifinals, but they did what they needed to do. That’s an accomplishment. This was the Sixers’ first four-game sweep during the Embiid era, a testament to their level of talent and toughness compared to previous seasons.
, and Tobias Harris picked up the scoring load, and Paul Reed grabbed 15 rebounds and was plus-7 while starting in place of Embiid.The sense around the team on Saturday is that Embiid would have missed the rest of the series if it went longer than four games. But Doc Rivers would not give a hint of when he expects his big man to be back on the court.after an MRI following the Sixers’ rough-and-tumble win in Game 3 on Thursday.
. That said, the Hawks were not nearly as physical as the Celtics. All you need to know about Embiid’s importance is how many players it took to replace him. In addition to Reed’s presence in the starting lineup, the Sixers gave Montrezl Harrell and Shake Milton their first minutes of the postseason. At times, it felt like they were missing three players instead of one.
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