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The Philadelphia 76ers will enter the NBA All-Star Break not just below .500, but outside of the NBA Playoff picture for the first time since 2017. This can only be considered a staggering disappointment for a team that was expected to potentially contend for an NBA Title and whose preseason over/under win total was 50.5. For what it's worth, with the 76ers' loss to the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday afternoon, they have already clinched an ‘under' for the season.
But apparently, 76ers fans have no reason to fret… at least according to co-owner Josh Harris, who proclaimed over the weekend that he believes his team is bound to make a Playoff run in the coming months.
“When Joel, Tyrese [Maxey], and Paul [George] are all on the court, we are a great team,” Harris said at a Fanatics event in New Orleans over Super Bowl weekend, per Keith Pompey of The Inquirer. “So we got to keep everyone healthy. In particular, Joel is a warrior. I know he’s fighting through some stuff, and I’m really optimistic that we are going to make a playoff run now.”
The 76ers are 7-5 when Embiid, George and Maxey, which is a record that highlights both the allure of this team, and the reason why ultimately it's difficult to take them too seriously. 7-5 is a perfectly admirable record, especially considering those five losses have come against Memphis, Indiana, Golden State, Detroit and Milwaukee. But the 76ers are 52 games into their season, and their ‘Big Three' have played a combined 12 games together. As the season runs longer, what reason is there to believe that they'll improve from a health standpoint and that a deep Playoff run is ahead?
Joel Embiid is on the wrong side of 30 and has been plagued by injuries throughout his entire career. When the postseason arrives, he's rarely been 100 percent healthy, and that's been a big reason why Philly has failed to get past the 2nd round since The Process began. Paul George is older than Embiid and has an even lengthier injury history. Tyrese Maxey should've been an All-Star the first time around, and he should've gotten the replacement nod that went to Trae Young, but he's still not a superstar capable of keeping this underachieving team afloat when his co-stars are no longer in their prime.
Sitting in 11th place, the 76ers do have a glimmer of hope thanks to the NBA Play-In Tournament. All Philly needs to do is surpass Atlanta for 10th place by season's end and then they'll at least have a puncher's chance of playing their way into the postseason, where either the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, or New York Knicks will be awaiting in Round 1 as an overwhelming favorite.
