After the signing Paul George Last summer, the Philadelphia 76ers had expectations to compete for a championship this season. Instead, after their sixth consecutive defeat Thursday evening – a 124-104 moving to the hands of Boston Celtics – The Sixers end up with a 20-35 file, good for the seeded n ° 11 at the East Conference. If the season ended today, they wouldn’t even make the game.
Part of the difficulties of the team follows from the lack of availability of the old MVP Joel EmbiidWho only played 18 of the 55 games this season. Embiid suffered a meniscus on the left knee last February and returned to court in April, but he missed the first nine games of this season due to the management of the same knee.
Anyone who watched Embiid Play can immediately say that he is not the same player who was at the rate of having one of the biggest offensive seasons of all time last year before his injury. His score average fell by more than 10 points, against 34.7 a season at 24.3 in 2024-25.
After the defeat on Thursday evening, Embiid admitted that he simply did not feel the same physically, and once again suggested that he may need a procedure at some point to return to his old self.
“I don’t know, I’m sure you can understand it,” said Embiid. “The way I played a year ago is not the way I play right now. It sucks, but I think I probably need, you know, to solve the problem, then I will be back at this level. But it is difficult to have confidence when you are not yourself.
“And yes, I’m not as dominant as a few months ago, but that doesn’t mean that I still can’t have a lot of impact on the game. Just me, I think, help a lot. You know, just my presence, the ability to attract double teams, to get more shots. But my dominant self, I will get there. It’s just difficult because you know you can do much more, but when it’s right – it’s not excuses, that’s how it is. Just continue to find ways to understand it and improve. »»
This sound byte is incredibly sad. Embiid is essentially described as a decoy, because his ailments do not allow him to occur at the level at which he is used to. This raises a difficult question both for Embiid and the 76ers: should it end the season at a level certainly reduced, or should it stop things and opt for a surgery now in the hope that it will be 100 % to start 2025-26?
The 76ers “Joel Embiid clarifies the comments of the knee surgery:” If that gets worse, then you have to do something “
James Herbert
The realists would examine the position of Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference and the latter’s argument. Even if the 76ers can enter and survive the game, they envision a first round match with the Celtics or the 45-10 Cleveland riders. With a limited emidid and George “Take a kind of medication to play through pain”, “ It can be wise to simply collect it and start again for next season.
But then again, if Embiid is able to go to a place at least 100% during the last period of the season and potentially in the playoffs, he poses one of the most unique match problems of the together Nba. It would be difficult to count completely the 76ers, but given the comments of Embiid, it seems that it is simply a fantasy at this stage.