Embiid’s gold sneakers and peach-colored jacket – and a red, white and blue basketball – were a giveaway that he was again in street clothes. With or without Embiid, the 76ers are streaking into the postseason as the hottest team in the NBA.
Embiid and JJ Redick watched from the bench, Ben Simmons had a scoreless first half and the Philadelphia 76ers still won their 16th consecutive game, thumping the Milwaukee Bucks 130-95 Wednesday night to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The 52-win Sixers will open the Eastern Conference playoffs against the sixth-seeded Miami Heat. No. 7 Milwaukee will meet No. 2 Boston.
Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 pick of the 2017 draft who missed 68 games with a shoulder injury, became the youngest player in NBA history (19 years, 317 days) with a triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
”It was just a matter of going out there and enjoying myself and playing confident,” Fultz said.
His teammates doused Fultz with strawberry milk, chocolate milk and water in celebration of the record feat.
”It’s all love and appreciation,” he said.
Fultz should have hit up Embiid and borrowed something to protect his face.
Embiid wore a black mask during warmups to protect his broken bone around his left eye, then changed into his garish outfit to watch the Sixers romp to a stunning 80-44 lead at the break.
Embiid said he will likely miss at least Game 1 of the playoffs this weekend because of the injury.
The 76ers have done just fine without him.
Redick was a late scratch with lower back tightness and Simmons, who finished with four points http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-sam-hubbard-jersey , missed both shots in the first half. No problem. The Sixers hit 11 3s in the first half and could have celebrated the No. 3 seed at halftime.
The Sixers had to win to earn the three spot and they dominated a Bucks team that was fighting for seeding in the playoffs. At one point, the Sixers led 72-37 – at the same time the Flyers were down 7-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL playoffs.
Embiid, who entertained the crowd during timeouts, hasn’t played since March 28 when he suffered a broken bone around his left eye in a collision with Fultz. The Sixers clearly need their big man if they’re going to make a run in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Embiid leads the team with 22.9 points and 11 rebounds in 63 games, helping Philly clinch its first playoff berth since 2012.
”I want to play but right now I feel like I’m not ready yet,” Embiid said. ”It’s getting there. I’ve got to keep working every day. With the way it’s been progressing, I’m hopeful I’ll be back soon.”
He said the eye was still swollen, though he doesn’t suffer from blurred vision.
Even those with 20/20 vision needed a second look at the scoreboard to make sure the numbers were real.
The Sixers in the first half
– shot 59 percent from the floor (31 of 53).
– shot 46 percent on 3s (11 of 24).
– had 22 assists, eight steals, three blocks.
– led by 41, 70-29.
With the Sixers up 39, fans started chanting ”Trust the Process! Trust the Process!”
The much-maligned – now sure to duplicated – ”process” method that saw the Sixers strip the roster of talent to guarantee losing and stockpile draft picks has been a winner. Embiid, Simmons and Fultz all played crucial roles in leading the Sixers (52-30) to their best record since the 2001 Eastern Conference champs went 56-26.
”It’s not something that I deem to be, here we are Byron Maxwell Color Rush Jersey , we’ve arrived, significant-type status,” coach Brett Brown said. ”It’s not that. I want them to enjoy it. Take a deep breath. Then reload.”
TIP-INS
Bucks: Jabari Parker scored 25 and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
”Right from the start, there were problems,” Bucks coach Joe Punty said. ”I can rant and rave right now but I don’t think that’s the important thing. It was clear we didn’t play very well.”
76ers: The NBA rule says players must wear a clear mask but Embiid and the Sixers could petition the league for a change. … Embiid said he deserved to win NBA defensive player of the year, Simmons should be rookie of the year and Brown for coach of the year. … Justin Anderson led the Sixers with 25 points and Dario Saric had 24.
UP NEXT
The Sixers and Bucks both have two days off before the NBA playoffs open.
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Stephen Curry and coach Steve Kerr’s Golden State Warriors have repeatedly said they want to build something special for the long haul, to compete for championships year after year.
LeBron James considers his familiar NBA Finals opponent among the best teams ever.
Where the Warriors stack up if they win a third championship in four years will make for a dynasty debate. And their domination doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon, so if they keep winning Golden State will have its place in history.
”As a fan of the NBA, you could go down the list of the teams that won multiple years and just dominated the league for stretches of time,” Curry said.
The Warriors are trying to join Bill Russell’s Celtics, the Bulls led by Michael Jordan and the Lakers’ trio of title runs fueled by George Mikan in the 1950s, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the `80s, and Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant nearly 20 years ago as the only franchises in NBA history to capture three championships in four years.
The Warriors are halfway there, holding a 2-0 lead against the underdog Cavs as the series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday.
”Listen http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-connor-williams-jersey , Golden State is one of the best teams I’ve ever played. It’s one of the best teams that’s ever been assembled,” said James, who is playing in his eighth straight NBA Finals and fourth in a row against Golden State.
Curry, sharp-shooting Klay Thompson, fiery Draymond Green and 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala make up an All-Star-studded squad trying to repeat after James thwarted that quest two years ago when the Cavs stopped the defending champs. Kevin Durant bolted from Oklahoma City to join the cast last season.
”You look at it, they’ve got four Hall of Famers on their team in Klay, Dray, Steph and KD. They’ve got a Finals MVP that comes off their bench,” James said in reference to Iguodala. ”… I don’t know where they will fall in my book, but they will have a nice chapter.”
Not everybody is ready to crown the Warriors as a dynasty, not just yet anyway. Not even if they win the title this year.
”I don’t like to go dynasty stuff, they’ve been the team of the decade,” said Gary Payton, the longtime Seattle SuperSonics point guard who played 17 seasons through 2007. ”That’s what it is. They’ve been doing their thing. When we get into a dynasty is Michael Jordan and them winning six http://www.titansauthorizedshops.com/authentic-harold-landry-jersey , that’s a dynasty. The Golden State Warriors (would have) won three out of four, that’s great.
”It’s coming to be a dynasty. If you win a couple more, then you’re talking about a dynasty. So three of them is in the right stage and the right movement to becoming a dynasty, yes.”
The defending champions are playing in a fourth straight finals chasing a repeat they couldn’t pull off in 2016 after capturing the franchise’s first title in 40 years during 2014-15 with Kerr as a rookie head coach.
TNT analyst and former player Charles Barkley wants nothing to do with dynasty talk regarding the Warriors.
”We don’t have any dynasties. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a dynasty,” Barkley said. ”The Bulls won six, the Spurs won five. We’ve had a lot of really good teams. I think the only dynasty is the Spurs. They’ve been great for 20 years. The Warriors are not going to win. Winning two in four years is not a dynasty.”
Golden State would love nothing more than to continue building momentum as the franchise approaches the opening of its new San Francisco arena, Chase Center , in summer 2019 if all remains on schedule. That leaves one last season at Oracle Arena.
B.J. Armstrong earned titles alongside Jordan with the Bulls from 1991-93. If the Warriors win another, they will join dynasty status in Armstrong’s mind.
”They’re right there,” Armstrong said. ”For them to have a sustained level of excellence like they’ve had, I don’t take that for granted and I think anyone who’s played or observed this game knows how difficult that is for one, let alone to be able to get here four times and have an opportunity to win three speaks for itself. …
”If they win this one, they’re right up there with all of the teams for a dynasty-type caliber situation up here in Golden State.”
Curry was around for all the losing: 26 wins his rookie season of 2009-10, 23 two years later then gradually building to more victories each season thereafter.
He is proud to be part of a transformation – one the two-time MVP hopes they contend for titles for years to come.
”What we’ve been able to do here … kind of taking a small step every year until 2015 Josh Hader Milwaukee Brewers Jersey , winning our first championship, it is a sense of pride around that,” Curry said. ”Being the elder statesman here and seeing what has all gone into being on this stage every single year – when it comes to the guys that I get to suit up with every single night, from Bob Myers down to the coaching staff to the ownership – it’s just a transformation that I got to see firsthand and all the details that went into it.
”So at some point, when this is all said and done, I hope to kind of just sit back and really truly appreciate, from start to finish, all that went into it. But there is an awareness of where we were to where we are. And I appreciate it.”
Arroganz
Thema drucken
09.08.2018 04:39
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