Embiid injury...... damn, damn, damn Bad for basketball fans overall Harden might be happy so his usage increases But he better do better than his previous playoff history
Before the news my 3 most likely outcomes in order would have been Miami in 7, Philly in 7 and Philly in 6. Now I’d say the most likely in order is Miami in 5, Miami in 6 or Miami in 7. No way Philly can win if Embiid misses more than 1 game.
Sixers need to build out their depth this off-season. Fortunately they don’t have Tilman as their owner and won’t be forced to dumpster dive.
Ugh. I'm far from a hater and think people go over the top on him ... but I fear he's about to have a tough series against this defense, w no other superhero, and about two weeks from now, Philly Fan will make even our worst trolls look mild.
To be Honest Maxey and Tobias are better offensively than anything he had with the Rockets except for CP3 who got injured. I think they will score just fine. Their defense scares me.
I feel terrible for Harden. Once again the Playoffs role around, and once against his team are going to be bert staring him to do everything. What I wouldn't give for Harden to rediscover that Houston form and drop 40 point triple doubles each game. I unfortunately think this is going to be real, real ugly for him with Miami's defense. And come the end of this round those clowns are going to be like 'SeE hE aLwAyS sUcKs'
https://theathletic.com/3282167/202...k-heat-76ers-celtics-bucks-suns-mavs-winners/ No. 1 Miami Heat vs. No. 4 Philadelphia 76ers Scout’s outlook: “I’m picking the Heat. Kyle Lowry’s got to be healthy. When you get to the round of eight, injuries to key players start to matter more. But Miami’s got guys who can guard (James) Harden. Nobody can guard Embiid. … But (the Heat) do have guys who can match up with Harden, I think. … Lowry, to me, is like an on-and-off defender; he’d put his mind to (defending well in this series). “Philadelphia’s kind of thin off the bench. Their starting five is excellent. But when they start going to the bench, is Georges Niang going to produce? Is Shake Milton (going to produce)? They’re going to have to play a lot of minutes. I like Miami’s depth better, with (Tyler) Herro, Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson coming off the bench, even Dewayne Dedmon coming off the bench. “I guess the negative for Miami is: Is Jimmy Butler going to carry them? Can Butler and Herro outlast Embiid, Harden and Tyrese Maxey? Because what these games come down to is that, eventually: your best players at crunch time producing on a regular basis. That’s why Lowry’s got to be there: so you have the trio of Butler, Herro and Lowry versus Embiid, Harden and Maxey. That may be a wash. So I think it’ll be a very close series. “With Embiid, you’ve just got to take the ball out of his hands, in my opinion. You know who’s a key factor? Danny Green. … I still think (if you’re Heat coach Erik Spoelstra) you have to let Tobias Harris try to beat you and Green try to beat you (instead of Embiid having that opportunity). … I think Bam Adebayo, with help, can slow Embiid down, and then you let the other guys try to beat you. … That’s going to be a very interesting dynamic. I’m sure (Miami will) mix it up, and also Miami plays a lot of zone. So I think you’ll probably see quite a bit of zone.” Coach’s outlook: “I see Miami getting that one done. I think they have the best matchups for certain guys (on the Sixers). Now, they may not have the matchup for Embiid, but they do have the matchup for Harden, and they understand how to guard him. With the Heat’s physicality and their switching and their ability to trap situations, I give them the advantage in this one. “I think Bam can be effective (defending Embiid), but the hard part with Embiid is he gets people in foul trouble. That’s the one thing that’s going to save the Sixers in some games — if there’s going to be a game where Bam’s going to end up in foul trouble or P.J. Tucker’s going to end up in foul trouble or Dedmon will end up in foul trouble.” Executive’s outlook: “It’s going to be a really physical series. You have two physical teams that stack up with a lot of size and a lot of versatility. Who has the best game plan? It’s going to be a really, really good series. Harden having that game to close out the first round (against Toronto) is a good sign for Philly. But Embiid is somewhat hobbled because of his injury, as is Jimmy Butler, who missed the last game of Miami’s first-round series. So it’s the combination of health and game-planning. “In theory, Miami has a lot of bodies they can throw both at Embiid and at Harden — real good defenders. So I’m going to go with Miami in seven games. I know the seven-game prediction is a little bit of a hedge, but I think the physicality that the series is going to be played with will be really, really fun to watch.” Scout’s pick: Heat in seven Coach’s pick: Heat in six Executive’s pick: Heat in seven Consensus advancing team: Heat
Houston Harden choked for 7 years when it mattered, Houston Harden did not drop 40 point triple doubles when the lights were bright... If anything you should be hoping you never have to see Houston Harden in the playoffs...
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...-east-crown-suns-return-to-conference-finals/ Reiter's pick: Heat in 5 Quinn's pick: Heat in 5 Ward-Henninger's pick: Heat in 5 Maloney's pick: Heat in 7 Wimbish's pick: Heat in 7 Botkin's pick: Heat in 6 Herbert's pick: Heat in 4 Kaskey-Blomain's pick: Heat in 7
