The Philadelphia 76ers did everything they could to avoid the NBA Play-In Tournament in the Eastern Conference. Ultimately, they fell just short, finishing in a three-way tie with the Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers with a record of 47-35. But, because of tiebreaker rules, they finished in seventh place.
With that finish, the 76ers will be hosting the Miami Heat in the first round of NBA Play-In Tournament games this week. The winner of that game will earn the No. 7 seed and a matchup with the New York Knicks in the first round.
For Philadelphia, all the attention will be on reigning NBA MVP, Joel Embiid. Embiid missed a huge chunk of the 2023-24 season because of a knee injury, which he returned to the lineup on April 2nd from after a two-month absence.
Embiid has looked good, scoring at least 24 points in all five games he has played in and scoring efficiently. However, there was some cause for concern when Embiid was downgraded to out on Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets.
In a must-win game, if the 76ers wanted any chance of moving into a top-six seed, Philadelphia opted to sit Embiid out. Embiid was listed as questionable heading into the game, just as he had been for every game prior to that since his return.
While fans were understandably nervous about the downgrade, they have been put at ease by the update head coach Nick Nurse provided. After Sunday’s win over the Nets, Nurse revealed his level of concern about Embiid, which is non-existent.
“He did everything at practice yesterday,” Nurse told reporters after Sunday’s game against the Nets. “We just decided, out of caution, to hold him out.”
The plan to hold him out and avoid a setback proved to be the right move as Philadelphia handled Brooklyn with relative ease. Now Embiid will be entering the matchup against the Heat well-rested after he had a scare in the game against the Magic with his knee.
Nurse is confident that Embiid will be ready to go when the 76ers take the court on Wednesday night. They are certainly hoping to get a victory, as it would give them three days until they start the NBA Playoffs on Saturday against the Knicks. A loss would mean having to play on Friday night again in a battle for the No. 8 seed.
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