PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers are definitely a different team without Joel Embiid.
Perhaps that’s what added to the excitement of Wednesday night’s achievement. With Embiid out with a small meniscus tear in his right knee, the Sixers took another step toward what they hope will be an NBA championship.
They punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the third time in four seasons with a 129-112 win over the Washington Wizards in Game 5 of their opening-round series on Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
Winning a playoff series 4-1 signified how far they have come since last season.
In August, the Sixers were swept by the Boston Celtics in last season’s best-of-seven first-round playoff series. That led to the organization making changes to the roster, revamping the front office, and hiring a new coaching staff.
But this win was far from easy without Embiid, whose status is listed as day to day. The Wizards gave the Sixers all they could handle.
The Sixers didn’t take their first lead until late in the second quarter and didn’t take a double-digit lead until late in the third quarter.
Now, Philly will face Atlanta Hawks, who eliminated the Knicks four games to one with a 103-89 win in Wednesday’s Game 5 at Madison Square Garden. The second-round series will begin Sunday at Wells Fargo Center.
The big question is whether Embiid will be available to play when the series resumes.
“I have no expectation other than I hope for him to be back,” Rivers said of Embiid returning in time for the second round. “But I can’t give you a timeline. I can’t give you anything right now.
“I can just tell you he’s willing to go through whatever it takes to get back on the floor. He’s a warrior. And if there’s way for him to get back on the floor, he will find it.”
Embiid suffered the injury in Monday’s Game 3 loss to the Wizards.
He took a hard fall on his backside when Robin Lopez blocked his driving layup with 4 minutes, 43 seconds left in the first quarter. While falling to the court, Embiid hyperflexed his right knee. After getting up gingerly, Embiid sat on the bench during a timeout and returned to the game. Embiid later reached down to touch his right knee. He was subbed out of the game with 36.5 seconds remaining in the quarter. Embiid then went to the locker room and didn’t return.
The four-time All-Star worked out on the court for 20 minutes before Wednesday night’s Game 4.
“He has high hopes,” teammate George Hill said. “His mindset is to always come back. His mindset is to always be here and play for us and compete.
“So talking to him, he’s very ecstatic of doing what he has to do to get back here on this court, and that’s all you can expect from a leader.”
Without him, Ben Simmons, the Sixers’ multifaceted All-Star, started at center. Seth Curry slid over to point guard while Matisse Thybulle got the start at shooting guard.
Curry had a solid night, finishing with 30 points on 10-for-17 shooting, including making 3 of 6 3-pointers. The Sixers improved to 17-0 when he scores 20 or more points.
Tobias Harris had 28 points and nine rebounds. Simmons had 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, Tyreke Maxey had 13 points off the bench.
Bradley Beal paced the Wizards with 32 points.
The Sixers used 10 players in the first quarter, with Curry having the hot hand. He had nine points in the quarter on 4-for-6 shooting. Harris added five points and four rebounds.
Curry’s first basket came on a 22-foot pull-up jumper. Then he added a 27-foot 3-pointer and a 5-foot floater on back-to-back possessions. His fourth basket was a 6-foot pull-up jumper with 4:19 left in the quarter.
He was subbed out of the game at the 3:41 mark, replaced by Maxey.
Maxey proceeded to take off where Curry left off. The rookie kept blowing past Wizards defenders like they were columns at the SEPTA train station. After missing his first three shot attempts, the rookie went on make 4 of 6 shots.
Maxey scored nine points before coming out of the game with 3:28 before intermission.
However, the Sixers were down, 50-46.
Then one second later, the Wizards started their Hack-a-Ben tactic of intentionally fouling Simmons. He split a pair of free throws during his first trip the foul line to pull the Sixers within three points. Washington intentionally fouled him again on Philly’s next possession. This time, Simmons sank both foul shots to cut the deficit to 51-49.
The Sixers took their first lead at 58-57 on Harris’ 3-pointer at 1:07 before intermission. Beal responded with a pair of foul shots to put the Wizards up one point. But the Sixers quickly regained the lead and went into the locker room ahead 65-63.
They went on to extend their lead to 16 points on Curry’s jumper with 6:35 left.
