The show must go on.
It’s a cliché this Philadelphia 76ers organization must know all too well at this point after the last few seasons, and it’s relevant yet again. With the news that Joel Embiid had appendicitis and an urgent, successful appendectomy yesterday in Houston, any modicum of hope that the Sixers might pull back into a playoff spot seemed to vanish instantaneously.
And with the Sixers’ rough loss to the Houston Rockets and the Toronto Raptors’ win last night, the statistical odds of them
doing so all but vanished as well. Though it’s still technically possible, it’s almost guaranteed at this point that the Sixers will not be able to get back into the No. 6 seed over the Raptors and will instead finish the regular season in a Play-In Tournament seed (7-10).
The harsh reality of the situation though is that, without Embiid, it can start to feel inconsequential anyway. Even if the Sixers had managed to sneak into the postseason, their ability to put up any sort of fight against other playoff teams was relatively contingent on Embiid being available to lead the way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I personally would have bet on them going far in the playoffs even with the big fella… but not having him feels like it nullifies even that tiny chance they would have had at a run.
But, again, the show must go on.
There are still two games left to be played for the Sixers in this rollercoaster of a regular season. The first of the final pair will come on Friday night as Philadelphia close their 16th and final back-to-back with a visit to the Indiana Pacers, less than 24 hours after that brutal loss in Houston. This being the second leg of a back-to-back means no official injury report for the Sixers until this afternoon. Obviously Embiid will not be available for this one, but we will let you know who else may have popped up on the report when it is posted later today.
The Pacers, meanwhile, are a tanking, 19-win team this season just looking to cross the finish line and get to the NBA lottery and draft. They were being led this campaign by Pascal Siakam, who is averaging 24.0 points a game in 63 contests this season, but he has missed Indiana’s last three contests due to an ankle injury. With the Pacers not exactly competing for anything, his season might be over.
In his absence, Obi Toppin has taken on a bit of a larger role, even coming off the bench. On Thursday, Toppin raced to 26 points on 11-for-14 field goal shooting with nine rebounds and three assists in just 18:35 on the floor against the Brooklyn Nets.
Indiana is also coming into Friday on the second leg of a back-to-back after that commanding 123-94 win over the Brooklyn Nets in a true tank-off Thursday night. That means no official injury report from them either until this afternoon. But honestly, even without Embiid at their disposal, there’s no iteration of this current Pacers squad that the Sixers shouldn’t be able to handle. (Again, I said shouldn’t. We all know that once they’re on the floor, it could turn out very differently.)
The Sixers are 3-0 against the Pacers this season, but Embiid was available for all three contests. Again, I truly do not believe the big fella is needed for this Philadelphia team to beat Indiana, especially if they actually play to their potential. Tyrese Maxey was damn near a triple-double in each of the two times he featured against the Pacers this season, with 32 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in one meeting and 29 points, eight assists and eight steals in the other. Yes, eight steals. This would be the perfect time for Maxey to really get back into the groove after seeming to struggle the last few contests, especially one of his career-worsts against the San Antonio Spurs earlier this week.
The true reality of the situation Friday for Philadelphia is that, though they might be understandably disappointed and now headed for the Play-In, this game in Indiana is a golden opportunity to provide even the smallest morale boost to a squad of players that desperately needs it as the end of the regular season fast approaches.
You can’t go back and right the wrongs of all the extremely close losses throughout the season that got you here. You can’t undo the last few losses that took you out of a guaranteed playoff spot. You can’t magically make Embiid not have needed urgent surgery for appendicitis. The only thing you can do as the Sixers is use these last two games against easier opponents — first the Pacers on Friday, then the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday — to get your heads back on even a little bit straighter before the Play-In comes around. It might not be enough to change the ultimate outcome there even, but it’s the only thing that is within their control at this point.
The Sixers and Pacers tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Game Details
When: Friday, April 10, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
