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When Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid got hurt in Game 4 against the Washington Wizards, every Sixers fan and player cringed. But, the team still took care of business without the heart of their offense, beating DC in five games.
While Embiid's been diagnosed with a small tear in his meniscus, it's unknown at this point how long he'll be out. But, the Sixers are still extremely confident heading in their second-round encounter with the Atlanta Hawks, who took out the Knicks on Wednesday night.
“I think we have the pieces and the tools to do it,” said Ben Simmons, via Sixers Wire. “We’ve been in this situation before during the season. We didn’t have a full team the whole time so we know we have to do. It starts on defense.”
The Sixers are one of the best defensive teams in the Association but they will have to go a bit smaller without Embiid. However, Simmons will certainly play a key factor in limiting Trae Young, who has been on fire in the playoffs.
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The Sixers went just 10-11 when Embiid was sidelined during the regular season. Dwight Howard will likely need to step up heavily to counter Clint Capela as well.
Seth Curry also spoke out on the importance of playing their game and having a sense of belief in themselves.
“We don’t have a choice,” said Curry. “We got to have that confidence and belief. That’s how we’ve been a year or we feel sorry for ourselves and just lose, but that’s not gonna happen. We got a lot of confident guys in there who have had a good year. Joel’s been huge for us all year so it’s only right for us to give him as much time as he needs to get back and help us win at all.”
With Embiid healthy for the Sixers, they're truly a three-headed monster with Harris and Simmons. Add in shooters like Curry and Danny Green around the star trio and this team is definitely a serious contender. For now, though, Philadelphia will be focused on the task at hand: defeating the Hawks without their best player.
