Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers’ season is over. Despite being one of the top teams in the regular season, the 76ers just couldn’t perform at an elite level on a consistent basis.
They failed to match the level of the Miami Heat in Round 2 of the postseason. Although the series went to six games, the Heat comfortably won the series. A huge reason for the 76ers’ struggle was the absence of Joel Embiid in the first two games.
The 76ers won the next two games, but they were unable to counter the level of physicality shown by the Miami Heat. Every time, when the 76ers tried to go on the offense, they were matched by two or three players.
Even Embiid agreed with this assessment and regretted that the 76ers couldn’t do the same. He also said that the Sixers are missing a tough player like PJ Tucker:
“You look at, obviously, defensively. He plays with so much energy. He believes that he can get from point A to point B and he believes that no one can beat him and he’s tough. He’s physical and he’s tough. They have a few of those guys whether it’s Bam and all those guys and since I’ve been here, I’d be lying if I said that we’ve had those types of guys, you know, those type of guys. Nothing against what we have. It’s just the truth. We’ve never had P.J. Tucker. That’s really what I’m trying to say. So as the physicality [increases], especially once you get to the playoffs or the later rounds, you need that. You need those guys that are really tough.”
A player like PJ Tucker might not contribute a lot to the box score, but he will continue to smother the opposing teams. This frustrates the opponents and forces them to commit mistakes.
As Embiid pointed out, the 76ers currently lack a player of that caliber. That’s something the Sixers could try to achieve in the upcoming offseason and bolster the roster.
