Now comes the hard part.
Sure, the Sixers return to the Wells Fargo Center for Tuesday night’s Game 5 with a 3-1 series lead over the Miami Heat. But everyone knows the fourth and final victory to eliminate an opponent is the toughest one.
“You’re throwing jabs, you’re feeling each other out. Then later on in the series, you have to deliver a crushing blow,” JJ Redick said at Monday’s practice. “You have to finish them.”
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This version of the Sixers has never finished off a playoff series and it’s been quite a while since the organization has advanced in the postseason at all.
The last time was May 10, 2012, when the Sixers knocked off the top-seeded and severely banged-up Chicago Bulls. Andre Iguodala made a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds left in Game 6 to give the Sixers a 79-78 home win to reach the second round.
Those were the days of the “Show Ya Luv” Sixers. That squad featured varied first-round draft picks, who made the most out of playing with heart and hustle.
These “Trust the Process” Sixers comprised of topflight lottery picks are finding out that same formula carries weight in the postseason and certainly Philadelphia. It’s the superstar-level talent that sets the 2017-18 team apart from the previous group and has it thinking about more than just a single series victory.
NBA
“A lot of people say that we have a bright future, but I think our time is now,” Joel Embiid said (see story). “We have a pretty good chance. We have a special team, a lot of great guys. I don’t think we need anybody else. We’ve just got to work with what we have, and we have a special team. I feel like we have a pretty good chance to go far.”
The latest step in the Sixers’ journey is available to them at 8 p.m. in front of a crowd that will be at full throat once things tip off.
Will they deliver that knockout blow? It won’t be easy either way, but the franchise is eager to see how it handles the next challenge in this real-time maturation process now taking place on the NBA’s grandest stage.
“I look at the playoffs and I look at our team, we have as much room for growth as anybody,” head coach Brett Brown said. “I think we have more room for growth. I look at this as a really exciting opportunity. You sort of go through college and now here we are in grad school, if you will. We have a chance to learn a lot more. A lot more. And we need to.”