The Philadelphia 76ers will get a chance at home to even their first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics on Sunday in Game 4.
The Celtics were able to reclaim the series lead on Friday, going up 2-1 after defeating the hosting Sixers in Game 3. It was a much closer affair though than Boston’s first win in this series — a 32-point victory in Game 1 — with Philadelphia putting up another valiant effort until simply faltering a bit too much at the end of the 108-100 contest.
Sunday is a new
day however, and the Sixers will be back on their home court in front of their fans at Xfinity Mobile Arena with a chance to re-tie the series before things head back to Boston.
The main variable for Philadelphia coming into Game 4 is the status of Joel Embiid, who is currently listed as doubtful for the contest as he continues to work toward medical clearance following an appendectomy just over two weeks ago. If he is ultimately able to play, everything changes quite a bit. We all know how the Sixers’ strategy shifts when they are able to utilize Embiid on the floor, and his presence would certainly put some extra work on the Celtics’ defense and increase spacing for everyone else. That being said, right now, all we can do is wait and see. One can imagine Embiid is probably pushing pretty hard to get out on the floor, and now it’s just up to the medical staff to be satisfied enough with his recovery to clear him to play.
Another injury-related variable coming into Sunday is Kelly Oubre Jr., who is listed questionable as of Sunday morning with right adductor soreness. Oubre has been making some solid contributions throughout the series and is coming off arguably his best performance of these playoffs so far, posting 17 points on 6-for-12 field goal shooting in Game 3. His status, for now, is another situation we just have to wait and see about.
Something that could definitely make a difference in Game 4 for the Sixers would be a bounce-back performance from VJ Edgecombe. The rookie struggled quite a bit in the Game 3 loss, putting up just 10 points in over 41 minutes played shooting 5-for-17 (29.4%) from the floor and going 0-for-7 from long range. He continued to contribute in other ways, posting 10 rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block, but he simply couldn’t get going offensively.
The good news is that Edgecombe had a similar experience back in the Sixers’ crushing Game 1 defeat and was able to bounce back in a huge way. The rookie had just 13 points in that series opener, shooting 37.5% from the floor and 0-for-5 from long range. Just two days later, though, was a much different story. Rather than getting down on himself about the struggles of Game 1, Edgecombe looked like a star in Game 2. The rookie led the Sixers to victory with 30 points on 12-for-20 (60.0%) field goal shooting and 6-for-10 (60.0%) three-point shooting in that second contest. It was also his first career playoff double-double, grabbing 10 boards.
The Sixers in general actually had bounced back really well in Game 2. From game strategy adjustments down to individual performances, the two contests were night and day for Philadelphia. The fortunate thing coming into Game 4 is that they don’t even need that large of a turnaround again. The Sixers actually hung in there really well with the Celtics in Game 3 throughout the majority of the contest, even with Edgecombe struggling and minimal impact from bench players not named Andre Drummond. There are certainly adjustments to be made, but the situation is not nearly as dire and desperate as after Game 1.
The question is simply are they able to make those adjustments again and tighten up in the areas they so obviously have room for improvement in, such as limiting offensive rebounding and second-chance points for Boston, and to have the guys they need to step up to do so.
I’ll be honest, I personally have been extremely impressed with the level of fight this Sixers’ squad — especially without Embiid — has been able to put up against this Celtics team. Especially after Game 1, it looked like Boston had sincere potential for a 4-0 sweep with +20-point wins. Don’t get me wrong, there are no moral victories in the playoffs, that’s not what I’m saying at all. I simply mean that I now have a lot stronger of a “they could steal a win here” coming into these games post-Game 2 than I anticipated ever having in this series coming into it — whether they are with or without Embiid by the time tipoff comes around.
But… having Embiid certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Game 4 tips off at 7 p.m. ET.
Game Details
When: Sunday, April 26, 7 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: Peacock
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
