The 8-4 Sixers will attempt to sweep its miniseries against the 4-5 Heat on Thursday night.
Here are the basics:
- When: 19h with Sixers Pregame Live at 18h15
- Where: Wells Fargo Center
- To transmit: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Live broadcast: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the MyTeams app
And here are three stories to watch:
Stay relatively young (for now)
Several reports on Wednesday indicated that Sixers was one of two finalists for James Harden, who is now officially a Net thanks to an agreement involving Brooklyn, Rockets, Cavs and Pacers. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday night that the Sixers made an offer that included Ben Simmons, Matisse Thybulle and project compensation.
Leaving aside the question of what compensation project the Sixers offered, one of the main conclusions of Wednesday’s dramatic negotiations is that the Sixers were supposed to be willing to part with Simmons. Basketball operations president Daryl Morey technically stayed true to his official statement last month that the team was not switching Simmons, but it appears they were not far from doing so.
There are many other relevant considerations, but it is notable that Simmons is 24 and Thybulle 23. Harden is 31 and has a two-year contract, with a player option in 2022-23. He has been very reliable in terms of health and availability throughout this career, even though he did not enter this season at the peak of his fitness. Still, the urgency to win now would have clearly increased if the Sixers had managed to change Harden. Of course, the whole purpose of making a deal would be to improve the team’s short-term chances.
Sixers have flexibility and many options that lead to the March 25 trading deadline. The team left most of the mid-level taxpayer exception and a $ 8.2 million trade exception from the Al Horford-Danny Green trade.
Bradley Beal is another star who would provide high-level perimeter scores, and Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reported that the Sixers have an interest in him.
Reinforcements for the Sixers
It appears that no NBA injury report is short these days.
However, some key Sixers will return Wednesday night, which is certainly good news for the team. Shake Milton, Tobias Harris and Matisse Thybulle are ready to play after being excluded by the league’s health and safety protocols, said coach Doc Rivers. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are also available after being previously listed as likely with back stiffness and swelling in the left knee, respectively.
Eight Heat players are still out for health and safety reasons. Meyers Leonard (left shoulder strain) will also not play, meaning that Miami will again have a minimum of eight players.
A ‘great believer’ in Embiid
With all due respect to Precious Achiuwa and Chris Silva, the competition was not the best for Embiid in the Sixers’ overtime victory over Miami on Tuesday night.
Still, it’s hard to overstate how excellent it has been. Its defensive impact must be obvious, but Embiid scored with great efficiency to start the season. He is shooting 38.7 percent from a three-point streak, making 86 percent of his free throws and posting 135.0 points for every 100 shooting attempts. This final number is the third in Sixers behind Seth Curry and Dwight Howard, for Cleaning the Glass, which is notable given that Embiid easily leads the team in usage rate.
Howard was impressed, though not surprised.
“I am very proud of Joel and how he behaved this year,” Howard said on Tuesday. “I believe in him a lot. I think he has the potential to be one of the greatest great men who ever played basketball. It’s really about him and how much he wants. I just want to be there for him, and just press him, because I really believe him. He showed tonight what he is capable of and what he can do, really, throughout his career. We just have to continue to trust him, he has to continue to trust us and, as he always said, trust the process – because it is a process.
“It takes time to be great. I am super happy with the way we played tonight. He did an incredible job. He hit some blows, (got) big stops in defense, big steals. He had a great game overall. I am super impressed and happy to see the success he has had so far in his career and I just want him to continue to believe and strive. “