The scenes unfolding throughout the first three quarters of Wednesday’s 105-104 win over Miami in the Play-In game were ones Sixers fans have seen many times before. Joel Embiid, looking dejected and nursing a bad knee, was struggling to come through in a game Philadelphia needed to have.
Embiid had 12 points on just 3-of-12 shooting with only one field goal in the second half, but the Sixers were only trailing by five entering the fourth quarter thanks to the powers of Nico Batum and free chicken nuggets.
Philadelphia has been in this situation many times before, whether it was Embiid’s 0-of-5 fourth quarter in Game 4 against the Hawks in 2021, or getting blocked three times down the stretch by Al Horford in Game 6 of the 2023 East semifinals.