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Joel Embiid was clearly a ghost of his former self in Game 5 against the Toronto Raptors, mustering only 13 points and six rebounds while coughing up a game-high eight turnovers in a 125-89 loss for the Philadelphia 76ers. The 7-footer noted he must regain the joy for the game coming into the next tilt, one the Sixers will play at home at the Wells Fargo Center, hoping to avoid elimination.
“l got to have fun. That's one of the keys of me playing so well the whole season, this postseason. It's just about — I mean, I got to smile on the court, I got to lift my teammates up,” said Embiid, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. “I just got to be myself, and just not really care and just do whatever I want to. And at the end of the day, that's how I dominate.
“If you see me smile, that means I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, and I intend to be doing that in two days.”
The situation is tense in Philly, after having the tables turned and going from a 2-1 series lead to a 3-2 deficit, forced to muster a winning effort on Thursday to settle it all in an all-out duel on the road in Game 7.
Jimmy Butler was supportive of Embiid, despite his recent struggles — and that confidence will be pivotal to their success if they are to pull off a victory in this win-or-go-home scenario.
The Sixers will go as Embiid goes, and if he's able to recover from his upper respiratory infection in the coming days, it would bode as the best fuel injection Philly could get in this postseason.
