should have just stuck to my guns with Philly over Toronto in 6, of course Embiid is more beat up then I thought at the time, I just didn't realize that Philly could actually win a game in Toronto with Embiid looking like crap (though he looked much better in game 3).
Not possible. Toronto in 6 now?
I think Philly wins game 6 and Toronto closes it out at home in game 7. The reason I flipped my prediction from the start of the playoffs to before the series started was Embiid looked a lot worse than I thought he would and he still looks awful. I'm honestly surprised they won game 2 with Embiid playing and looking as bad as he did. Embiid looked pretty good in game 3, but has since looked awful the last 2. I think Embiid has one more good game in him in game 6 so I think Philly wins that game, but I'd be surprised if Embiid can put together consecutive games where his health holds up. What is so striking in the series is that even when Embiid looks awful the Sixers are a positive with him on the floor.
Here are his +- stats for the series
Game 1 - 30 minutes, +4
Game 2 - 32 minutes, +3
Game 3 - 28 minutes, +31
Game 4 - 35 minutes, +17
Game 5 - 31 minutes, -15
Here is the team without Embiid on the floor in those games
Game 1 - 18 minutes, -17
Game 2 - 16 minutes, +2
Game 3 - 20 minutes, -10
Game 4 - 13 minutes, -22
Game 5 - 17 minutes, -21
In other words, the Sixers fall apart without Embiid in the game even when he doesn't play well. Embiid's health has been the biggest factor in this outcome. At the start of the playoffs I thought he'd be healthier which is why I went Sixers in 6, but before the series started I switched my prediction to Raptors in 7 because I didn't think Embiid would hold up well enough and thus far he hasn't. Maybe he has 2 more games in him, but as I said earlier, I'm sticking with Raptors in 7.