The Philadelphia 76ers had a commanding first round series lead against the Toronto Raptors. They won the first 3 games of the series and it looked like it could possibly be a sweep.
Now the 76ers are in a dog fight with Toronto leading the series 3-2 and Raptors have home court in game 6 with a great chance to force a game 7. Philadelphia could be the first team ever to blow a 3-0 series lead and lose 4 straight in a series.
Only three other times has a team given up a 3-0 series lead and been forced to play a game seven. Those teams however held on and won their game 7 and advanced to the next round. The history with the 76ers is not encouraging. Philadelphia has lost nine straight playoff series when they’ve lost back-to-back games.
Joel Embiid in game 3 hit a game winner but apparently hurt his hand and is not 100%. This is why they went and traded for James Harden for situations like this.
The problem is Harden hasn’t made much of an impact in this series. The guard has shot 36% or worse in 4 of the 5 games of the series. Harden also has 18 turnovers in the 5 games in this series so far.
In game 5 Embiid was the leading scorer for Philly with 20 points and the second highest scorer was Tobias Harris with 16 points. They only had 11 points as a team off the bench.
All the signs are pointing to a real possibility that the 76ers could be the first team ever to lose a series after leading 3-0. The Raptors have all the momentum and are playing really balanced as a team.
Joel Embiid has been loyal to this team has been his whole career since coming into the NBA. Stars have come and gone through this organization. They blew a series last season against the Hawks in which everyone expected the 76ers to advance. In 2019 what could’ve possibly been their best team they lost off a heartbreaking buzzer beater by Kawhi Leonard.
The Raptors went on to win the title that season. I didn’t agree with the hire of head coach Doc Rivers. Doc has one championship, and the rest has been disappointment in the playoffs. Rivers has lost a lot of playoff series when his team has been favored going into that series. He had the one season when he had Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.
If the 76ers cannot get past the Raptors in this series Embiid should request a trade. This team will officially be a dumpster fire if they get bounced in the first round. Joel deserves to go to a true contender and be able to compete for a championship.
We’ll see the results of this series and whether Embiid is tired of this organization.
