Eastern Conference play-offs: what's at stake and the Africans to watch
Eastern Conference play-offs: at the peak of his powers, Joel Embiid hopes to lift the Sixers to the top of the NBA this season.
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Unlike in the Western Conference, the first-round match-ups in the East are less open. The top seeds are clear favourites, even if an upset is never out of the question.
Joel Embiid: now or never?
Third in the Conference, the Sixers cannot afford to slip up against a Brooklyn franchise in rebuilding mode after the departures of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in February. Joël Embiid and his team-mates need to wrap up this series quickly and wait for their opponent in the semi-finals. The Cameroonian, who has endured several big disappointments in recent seasons, looks like a man on a mission. With a much sterner face, he no longer even smiles on court. His obsession is the NBA championship title.
Top scorer of the regular season for the second year running, The Process literally flattened all his direct rivals during the season. He will need to reproduce that form in the play-offs if he is to go all the way.
Joel Embiid's regular season was special. What does the postseason have in store for him?
👀: Game 1
🆚: Sixers-Nets
📺: 1pm/et on ESPN#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/OBWmTtRi6i— NBA (@NBA) April 15, 2023
Giannis's Bucks and the Miami trap
Without being a steamroller, Milwaukee can blow any opponent away. The Bucks have, after all, the NBA's greatest weapon of mass destruction in their ranks, in the shape of Giannis Antetokounmpo. But the Wisconsin franchise should be wary of having drawn Miami. The Heat were poor this season and their two play-in games confirmed their serious struggles. Still, you should never underestimate a wounded animal with nothing left to lose. Eric Spoelstra has competitors who can throw any team off its game. And Bam Adebayo cannot keep being as poor as he was in the play-in.
Boston: time to build on last season
Despite the sacking of Ime Udoka over off-court issues, Boston has shown it can repeat last season's feat and become Eastern Conference champions again. The Celtics finished in second place, and the franchise's two big superstars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylun Brown, are as strong as ever. In the first round of the play-offs, Atlanta may not be a huge threat. But from the semi-finals, they could face Joel Embiid's Sixers.
Georges Niang and Vincent Gabe, the key factors
Besides Joel Embiid, and with his compatriot Pascal Siakam absent, Senegalese Georges Niang and Nigerian Vincent Gabe will be the Africans to watch in the Eastern Conference. The former is an important member of the Sixers' second unit. His defensive skills and fine three-point shooting could make him Philadelphia's X-factor in these play-offs. Vincent Gabe, promoted to the Heat's starting 5 because of Kyle Lowry's physical problems, will need to show much more than he did in the play-in. The guard finished with a goose egg in 27 minutes in the win over Chicago last night.
The bracket is set.
PLAYOFF HOOPS BEGIN IN 12 HOURS 🍿
Nets-Sixers | Game 1 | 1pm/et on ESPN#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/bsFcixAXF2
— NBA (@NBA) April 15, 2023