Stephen A. Smith delivers hilarious take on 76ers' injury woes

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The 2024-25 season has been straight out of the Philadelphia 76ers’ nightmares. They entered the campaign with such high hopes after bringing in two-way star Paul George on a max contract, as they believed that George will be the missing piece to the 76ers’ championship puzzle. However, the 76ers can only go so far without a healthy Joel Embiid, and so far throughout the season, a healthy Embiid has become a bit of an oxymoron.

Embiid missed his 26th game of the season on Wednesday night in another loss for the 76ers that knocks them down to 15-24 on the season, falling further off the pace in the East standings. It has not helped matters at all that George hyperextended his knee prior to the start of the season and has been battling injury demons of his own, all the while struggling with consistency as well.

The good news for the 76ers is that this terrible first half of the season hasn’t completely shut the door on their playoff hopes. They can still crack the postseason party via the play-in, although as things stand, they are two games behind the 10th-seeded Chicago Bulls. But for Stephen A. Smith, this won’t matter at all considering how injury-prone the team’s stars have been.

“As the 11th seed, you gotta squeeze in there and get to the 10th [seed], and then you got a play-in. Those are extra games. We worry about these dudes getting hurt going to the bathroom. That’s how bad it is!” Smith said in an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Countdown, via ClutchPoints on X (formerly Twitter).

As the old adage goes, the best ability is availability; the 76ers can assemble the most talented roster on the planet and have it be all for naught if the likes of Embiid and George can’t shake off the injury bug. But there is more than half of the season to go, so it’s not all doom and gloom for the 76ers, even after their heartbreaking 125-119 loss to the New York Knicks in overtime.

The 76ers have to be in desperation mode for the rest of the season

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It’s easy to say that the 76ers shouldn’t force the issue too much and chalk this season up to being a lost one. But at this point, it’s fair to wonder just how much Joel Embiid has left in the tank considering the many injuries he’s gone through over the years. Paul George is also exhibiting major signs of decline; he’s still a productive player, but how much longer will that remain to be the case considering he’s already 34 years of age?

Of course, the 76ers will prioritize the long-term health of their best players. But this season has gone sideways really quickly, and they have to find answers as soon as they can. It’s also hard for Philly to get into a rhythm when their core players can’t build many live-game reps. And with 42 games left on the season, they should be in desperation mode to right the ship, and perhaps even sneak their way into an outright playoff spot.

The post Stephen A. Smith delivers hilarious take on 76ers’ injury woes appeared first on ClutchPoints.

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