After missing 29 games with a knee injury, Philadelphia 76ers center, Joel Embiid has returned to lead the team to six consecutive wins, making the playoff picture in the East more interesting than most would have expected. The return of the reigning MVP may change how other Eastern Conference teams plan for the upcoming playoffs with less than a week remaining in regular season.
Sixers Recent Stretch
Philadelphia has won six straight games, with five of them since Embiid’s return. In that stretch, he has averaged 30 points per game on 54% shooting, with 8.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks in just over 30 minutes per game. Before his injury, Embiid was leading the league with 35.3 points per game. During this final stretch of the season, Embiid has looked healthy, played amazing, and has even managed to hit franchise milestones along the way.
The 76ers currently sit at the 7th seed with only two games left in the regular season. There’s a possibility that the Sixers win those last two games and jump into the 6th seed and out of the Play-In. No matter what seed they end up with, the Philadelphia 76ers are playing well for other teams to take them seriously in the playoffs.
Would The 76ers Shut Down Embiid For The Season?
From the time of Embiid’s injury against the Golden State Warriors on January 30th until his return on April 2nd, the Sixers were 11-18. They dropped from one of the top seeds in the East to the 8th spot. With Embiid’s return not projected until the end of the regular season, there were even discussions on whether the Sixers should bring him back at all. Falling to the 8th seed meant the Sixers would have the possibility of facing the league-best Boston Celtics in the first round, and that’s only if they get through the Play-In Tournament.
This is certainly a valid concern for the Sixers fans and organization. They would be asking Joel Embiid, after not playing for two months, to lead the Sixers against a Celtics team that they’re unlikely to beat anyways. And, not to mention, Embiid still wouldn’t be 100% healthy. They could just simply punt on this season, rehabilitate Embiid during the summer, and come into next year fully ready to compete.
However, the fact that the Sixers brought him back to close out the regular season would indicate that they are planning on being competitive in the playoffs no matter which team they draw. If Embiid hadn’t been injured, the Sixers would likely be a top three seed in the East, and they’ve looked like that type of team recently. These past five games have been the perfect on-ramp for the Sixers to get Embiid back in playing shape, and to build momentum heading into these playoffs.
Playoff Hopes
With seeds three through eight all very close in the East playoff race, there are several different spots that the 76ers could end up. Obviously, they would like to avoid the Play-In altogether and land in that 6th spot, but they would need some help from the Indiana Pacers. Because of the many seeding possibilities, there are also several different teams the Sixers could end up facing in the first round.
The Celtics and the Knicks are the teams they’d like to see least. The Sixers would be happy with a matchup against either the Milwaukee Bucks or the Orlando Magic. In spite of their record, the Bucks have been wildly inconsistent this year, and the Sixers would be catching them on a downward slope. The Orlando Magic have been a pleasant surprise this season, but the lack of playoff experience would be a likely disadvantage against the 76ers.
The upcoming week will answer all these questions about matchups and seeding, but no matter who the Sixers play, they will be competing hard, and they will one of the hotter teams in the league. If nothing else, having Joel Embiid healthy and playing good basketball can only be a positive thing for the NBA.