MILWAUKEE — After the Philadelphia 76ers fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 117-104 on Sunday night, there are four regular-season games remaining for the Sixers before the playoffs begin on April 15.
With only four games left, Joel Embiid and the Sixers have to kick it into high gear as they prepare for the playoffs. In the loss to the Bucks, Embiid had 28 points, but he shot 11-for-25 from the floor and 1-for-7 from deep while pulling down nine rebounds with five assists.
The Sixers will go as far as Embiid takes them, and he knows that. That is reflected in his goals for the final stretch.
“Staying healthy,” he said succinctly. “I haven’t been as aggressive the last couple of games. Tonight (Sunday), I was a little bit, but I missed a lot of shots. I missed a lot of 3s, actually. So I just gotta get back to really my dominant stuff, and as a team, just get together and figure it out.”
The final four games for the Sixers will be tough matchups. They play host to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday and the Miami Heat on Thursday before they face the Atlanta Hawks and the Brooklyn Nets on the road. The Celtics are a title contender, and the Heat and Hawks are fighting for playoff position.
The season finale with the Nets will likely not mean much considering both teams will have their spots locked in at that point.
All four of those games offer a chance for Embiid to rediscover his rhythm and prepare for the postseason as he fights through his recent calf injury.
“Just trying to, I wouldn’t say take it easy, but trying to make sure you don’t overdo it so something else happens,” he explained. “There’s some stuff you can’t mess around with, but every single day, it’s getting better. So that’s the key. Getting healthy and all of us getting healthy and getting our rhythm back.”
Joel Embiid on his calf: “It’s alright. It’s getting better.” #Sixers
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) April 3, 2023
With four games remaining, the Sixers have to continue to figure it out and be ready for all of the challenges that the playoffs present.
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