Let's be clear about what we've seen over the last week. The Sixers are the better basketball team in this Eastern Conference semifinals series. In fact, at times, the difference between them and the Heat has looked downright startling.
The official count says things are all tied up at two games as it heads back to Miami for Game 5 on Tuesday, but the Sixers' dominance in Games 3 and 4 was so thorough that you can't help but wonder whether the series would already be over had Joel Embiid been on the court from the start.
That's a remarkable thing to say given the way the circumstances looked at the start of the series. But two big variables have broken in the Sixers' favor. The first, obviously, is Embiid. In the aftermath of the Sixers' series-tying 116-108 win at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday night, somebody asked James Harden how he and his teammates were able to maintain their composure after they opened up the series with back-to-back losses. Harden laughed and looked at the guy sitting next to him. That guy was Embiid. Point taken.
