Three Normal Playoff Things: Sixers vs. Wizards Game Four

Three normal things.

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He has been legally banned from covering the team in person, and when that ban was set to be lifted, Covid-19 struck. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.

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Welcome to another postseason edition of Three Normal Things! Let’s go.

#1: Joel Embiid exits game with knee soreness

Early on tonight, Joel Embiid was predictably dominant, immediately forcing Daniel Gafford and Alex Len into foul trouble and manipulating double-teams as a passer. 

On a drive against Robin Lopez, Embiid was rejected by his defender and the rim as he went for an ambitious dunk attempt. Embiid took a hard fall on the floor, hurting his back and hip.

Embiid, however, did stay in the game for a few minutes. But when he exited the game, he went to the locker room and never returned to the floor. Embiid was ruled out with knee soreness, a surprising designation given the nature of his incident. 

Immediately upon his exit, the Sixers felt the absence of their crown jewel. They ceded a few major runs to the Wizards in the second quarter, and then in the third allowed Washington to take control of the game.

Back on March 25th, I don’t think anyone believed the Sixers would sorely miss Tony Bradley. But as Mike Scott’s massive year-long struggles continue, that is the position the Sixers found themselves in.

#2: Rotation update

After Game 3, I hypothesized that moving forward, Tyrese Maxey and Furkan Korkmaz would both be getting minutes over the struggling Shake Milton. But tonight, it was Korkmaz who rode the pine tonight until a desperation play in the fourth quarter.

The Sixers seem keen on getting Milton right, and I understand -- when he’s playing at his best, he can drive winning basketball more than Maxey or Korkmaz ever have. And, it’s not as if the Sixers are in danger of being eliminated here.

However, at some point you have to be realistic: as I wrote a few nights back, Milton is not good enough to justify receiving such high-leverage minutes given the way he’s playing. 

I’ll keep tracking how Doc Rivers adjusts his rotation throughout the postseason.

That leads us to…

#3: PLAYOFF KORKMAZ

After a long night full of negative and pessimistic happenings, you’re all bummed. So let’s end on a high note. Regardless of the outcome, there was at least one glaring positive for the Sixers. 

With the team on the ropes in the fourth quarter tonight, it was Furkan Korkmaz who entered the game and revived the Sixers’ hopes of pulling off the sweep. 

Korkmaz immediately made his voice heard with a long three in transition, followed up by a bucket at the end of the shot-clock, an offensive rebound and an and-one. 

With the Sixers having steady bench ball-handling thanks to Maxey and George Hill, there is even more reason that Korkmaz makes more sense in this bench unit than Milton.

A brutal loss for the Sixers, who now must return to Philadelphia to try to close the series on Wednesday night.