PHILADELPHIA — Heading into the 2023-24 season, the talk of the Eastern Conference was all about the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics. The Philadelphia 76ers were there, but it was like the little kid being ignored while the adults were talking.
The Bucks added Damian Lillard to join Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. The Celtics added Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingus to join Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Sixers were dealing with James Harden, a new coach and a new system.
However, after a 106-103 win over the Celtics extended the Sixers’ winning streak to six games, maybe people should begin taking the Sixers a bit more seriously.
After the win, Joel Embiid addressed those who have his Sixers squad under the radar a bit.
“That’s for you guys to figure it out, but, obviously, those teams made a lot of improvements,” said Embiid. “Boston got a lot better. They look like they’re the best team in the NBA by far. Good for them. Milwaukee, too. Obviously, adding Dame is huge. He’s amazing. That combination of Dame and Giannis is pretty good. Unstoppable.”
Now, this is only seven games into the season. There’s still 75 games to go before the playoffs begin, and the Sixers have much work to do to integrate new pieces, get Nurse’s system down to a T and prepare for the next move. Embiid understands that.
“We’re just worried about ourselves,” he continued. “New coach, new system, a bunch of new guys, just trying to get everybody up to speed and see what we can do. Like I said, I say this so many times, it doesn’t really matter who’s on the team, I always believe that I have an opportunity to win.”
Regardless of what happens in the regular season, the Sixers will not go deep into the playoffs unless Embiid is healthy. He is the engine that drives this championship contending machine and he knows it.
If he can’t remain healthy, the Sixers are going to remain in a second-round rut.
“Obviously, it always comes down to staying healthy which hasn’t happened every single freaking postseason of my life, but I believe we’re always gonna have a chance,” Embiid finished. “I like the guys that we have. We just gotta stick together, keep working together, and try to get better every single day.”
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