The Philadelphia 76ers crashed and burned out of the playoffs last year at the hands of the Boston Celtics. The Sixers made quick work of the Miami Heat in the first round, but just could not figure out the Celtics, leading to a five-game series that ended their season in the conference semifinals.
Philly was in a bit of a unique spot heading into that postseason, both because they were the hottest team in basketball at that point and, at the same time, Joel Embiid was working his way back from a broken orbital bone. It was obvious that Embiid was not himself as he was trying to get back into the swing of things, culminating in the Celtics bottling him up in their matchup.
This time around, Embiid anticipates that’s going to change. According to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire, Embiid believes he’s physically in a place where he won’t have to worry about using the postseason to get back into the swing of things.
“I’m excited. Honestly, I don’t care who we play,” said Embiid. “I’m excited. It’s going to be my second postseason.”
By virtue of their win over the Nets and the Detroit Pistons win over the Orlando Magic, the Sixers would now face off with the Pistons in round one. Philadelphia has won three out of four meetings with Detroit this season.
“Last year I had the mask and wasn’t feeling well,” Embiid added. “I was out of shape, but this playoff I’m coming in better shape and I don’t have the mask to hate, so it’s definitely going to be a different story.”
There’s a lot of pressure on Philadelphia to make noise in the playoffs this year, both because of how last season ended and because Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris are in line to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the year. At the very least, the Sixers can take solace in knowing that their superstar center is physically ready to go once the postseason rolls around.
