Why Philadelphia 76ers, Joel Embiid should have hope after latest playoff

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid has relied on a common refrain this season. As long as he is with the Philadelphia 76ers, he believes they have a chance. To win games, to win titles — to win. It has powered him despite nearly a year of tumult. While he may still believe it, that maxim has seen its limits over the last few months.

The Sixers, and Embiid, were knocked out of the playoffs by the New York Knicks in a 118-115 Game 6 loss. It ended a season that had crescendoed with high expectations as Embiid seemed to be rolling to another NBA Most Valuable Player Award and taking the franchise with him for a ride to the top of the Eastern Conference. But a January left meniscus tear sent him to the operating table and the team into a spiral. Neither could recover to full strength in time to propel the Sixers to the Eastern Conference finals appearance that has eluded Embiid during his decade in Philadelphia.

Thursday night, it came crashing down again, at home, in front of a crowd that was mostly Knicks fans by the very end of the night. The Sixers have to digest a chaotic series — exciting and tight for all six games — that didn’t swing their way. The Knicks scored just one more point than the Sixers did over the course of the last two weeks, but that delta was wide. It was Jalen Brunson, after 41 points and 12 assists, who walked off the court last, to a huge hug from Knicks general manager Leon Rose, chants of “MVP,” and into the second round of the playoffs.

“This series probably could have went the exact opposite the way it did,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “But it didn’t. So congratulate them for ending up on the positive side of it.”

Now, the 76ers are once again at a crossroads. They came out of last season with a new head coach in Nurse and a new top sidekick for Embiid in Tyrese Maxey, who has not just ascended capably in the role but outgrown it. He took over for James Harden and evolved into an All-Star. Maxey all but won Game 5 by himself. But it wasn’t enough.

While New York came at Philadelphia in waves, even beyond Brunson’s great performance over the last four games, the 76ers could only rely on their two pillars, Embiid and Maxey. When the Knicks pushed the ball out of Embiid’s hands in the fourth quarter of Game 4, the Sixers did not have enough pop to break that strategy. As the Knicks crashed the boards on the offensive end, there wasn’t enough help for Embiid to stave them off. Even Maxey faltered in Game 6, scoring just 17 points as he missed 12 of 18 shots.

Embiid, again, had his own health issues and turned 30 in March. He missed 30 games bookended around the All-Star break because of a torn meniscus in his left knee. He played with Bell’s palsy throughout the playoffs.

He looked limited and fatigued down the stretch of the Sixers’ last two losses. He did not sit at all in the second half of Game 4 — the first time he’s done that in his career — and barely rested in Game 5….