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PLEASE DISREGARD ANYTHING SAID ABOUT JOEL EMBIID, HE’S OUT TONIGHT.
It’s time for Hassan Whiteside vs Joel Embiid Round IV.
Quick Recap of their first couple battles...
Round I: November 21st, 2016
Embiid: 21p/5r/3b W
Whiteside: 32p/13r/2b L
Round II: Preseason: 10/13/17
(stats are meaningless here)
Funny how y’all don’t show me telling him the same and 1-7 shooting ♂️ or the first 2 flops I mean blocks. Lol y’all fan boys I swear
— Hassan Whiteside (@youngwhiteside) October 14, 2017
And keep caring about stats and not your team success..... your +/- was ass @youngwhiteside #Softy
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
Dude they had to take your ass out or you would’ve fouled out in 5 min... And we’re talking about Preseason, not regular season..... #Softy https://t.co/IAIBDDypFK
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 14, 2017
@JoelEmbiid 31 games in 3yrs Hopefully I get to see you regular season ♂️ ♂️ #SolarEclipse #EmbiidEclipse https://t.co/iaFfK3h3V6
— Hassan Whiteside (@youngwhiteside) October 14, 2017
So yeah we all remember that.
Round III: February 2nd, 2018
Embiid: 17p/11r/4a/3b/+11 W
Whiteside: 4p/9r/-16 L
AND NOW, we have round four between the two seven footers tonight at the Wells Fargo Center, and how fitting, on Valentine’s Day.
The Sixers come in to this one riding a four game win streak, and a 10 game home win streak. The Eagles seem to have set something off in the Sixers’ (and Flyers FWIW) heads. The Sixers currently hold the 7 seed in the East with a record of 29-25 and right on their heels are the Heat, who sit in the 8 seed at 30-26. The former 5th seeded Miami Heat are in a bit of a tailspin as of late and are 3-7 in their last 10 games. They are facing the Sixers on the second leg of a back-to-back roadie as last night, they fell to the Raptors 114-112.
Hopefully, the Sixers can smell the blood in the water.
On the flip side, the Sixers most recent win came with one of the most delightful triple doubles in history as TJ McConnell finished with the most electric 10/10/11 (and 6) stat line mankind has ever seen. Ben Simmons was also chasing a 5x5 but came up a steal and 2 blocks short of the feat.
Another underlying plot line in this East Coast matchup is the Ben Simmons/Goran Dragic battle. Since Dragic was named as an All-Star replacement over Simmons on February 1st, Simmons has posted 14p/7r/7a/3s/1b per game while Dragic is averaging 18p/3r/4a/1s. Take it for what you will (but Simmons should still be the All-Star).
So we’ve got ourselves a high stakes battle for the 7 seed tonight in South Philly. There might be blood, there might be tears, there WILL be tweets.
GAME INFO:
Date: February 14th, 2018
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Well Fargo Center, Philadelphia
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow along on Twitter: @Liberty_Ballers