Before tonight’s critical Game 6 in Canada, Joel EMbiid and the 76ers were facing some real pressure to close things out. In light of the team’s past playoff failures, being forced to a Game 7 after being up 3-0 in the series would have been an absolute nightmare.
Fortunately, the Sixers were able to close out the series on Thursday night, winning in a 132-97 blowout.
The highlights of the game came in the 4th quarter when No. 21 riled up the crowd into “f**k Embiid” chants.
His response later was even better. Up 26 points, he turned to the crowd and mockingly remarked how silent the stadium was.
No doubt, the Sixers ended that game with a sigh of relief. While there are still many unanswered questions about the team, they delivered on a huge win and stepped up with a lot of pressure to perform.
We’ve got the pieces. We’ve done it 3 times already. We have two games to get one, but we’re taking it one game at a time,” said Danny Green ahead of Game 6. “We want to get this one. We had four opportunities to get one. Thursday’s coming soon, in Toronto in their building. You got no choice now. You gonna nut up, or fold.
The reward for Philly? A second-round matchup against the first-seeded Heat. With Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Victor Oladipo, and Tyler Herro, Miami is a serious threat to win the title and shouldn’t be underestimated by any team.
If the 76ers hope to get past them, Embiid and Harden will have to be at their best — as will the supporting cast.
But if those “f**k Embiid” chants didn’t slow them down at all, Philly could be poised to give Miami a real challenge in this next series.
We’ll just have to see for ourselves how far they are ready to go.
