{"id":3167,"date":"2021-05-16T08:20:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-16T05:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theinvolvement.wordpress.com\/?p=3167"},"modified":"2021-05-16T08:20:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-16T05:20:52","slug":"philadelphia-76ers-clinch-easts-top-seed-with-win-over-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/index.php\/2021\/05\/16\/philadelphia-76ers-clinch-easts-top-seed-with-win-over-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia 76ers clinch East\u2019s top seed with win over Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By Saboke Masaki<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(sabokemasaki@gmail.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/embiid.jpeg?w=683\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3171\" \/><figcaption>Joel Embiid shoots over Dwayne Bacon in the win vs Magic. PHOTO| Garrabrant\/NBAE Via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 122-97 blowout win over the Orlando Magic Saturday morning clinched the Philadelphia 76ers the top seed in the Eastern Conference, guaranteeing them home-court advantage through to at least, the East\u2019s finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is only the third time in 44 seasons that the Sixers have clinched the top spot. The victory is also their first in 20 years, something Joel Embiid describes as motivational for the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHome-court advantage helps a lot,\u201d said the Cameroonian center. &nbsp;\u201cWe\u2019ve been dominant at home; we barely lose here. It means a lot to have the No. 1 seed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Embiid\u2019s words are not hyperbolic; the Sixers being 28-7 at home this season, which is best in the East and second to only the Jazz this season. Apart from a relatively easier path to the NBA finals, this is one of the reasons the team aggressively pursued the top seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think for this team, being as young as we are, to have home-court is really important and so we should be proud of it,\u201d sixers\u2019 coach Doc Rivers said after the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the first round, the Sixers will face the winner of the East\u2019s final playoff position in this year\u2019s play-in tournament which will feature the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards. Their path to the NBA finals will most likely involve the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks or Brooklyn Nets with the last two guaranteed to be a nail-biting series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Sixers coined the phrase \u201cTrust the process\u201d (which later became popular in sports and culture) and it is now time to collect. Everyone from Coach Rivers to the duo of Embiid and Simmons are under immense pressure this season, anything short of an NBA championship this year will be a failure for the franchise seeking their fourth banner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 122-97 blowout win over the Orlando Magic Saturday morning clinched the Philadelphia 76ers the top seed in the Eastern Conference,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[238,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-sports","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invo.nyarango.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}