“The Philadelphia 76ers should be ashamed of themselves” - Stephen A. Smith

Smith called the Sixers pathetic and called them out for their lack of effort in a game of such high magnitude.

Joel Embiid and James Harden are going to be a duo to watch out for going into the 2022-23 season. [Image Credits: Twitter]
By Sujay Gaurav | May 12, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The Philadelphia 76ers got blown out in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat and it was a beatdown. Joel Embiid and James Harden failed to show up after the heroics in the last game and that prompted a wild and angry response from NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith. Smith called the sixers pathetic and called them out for their lack of effort in a game of such high magnitude. Speaking on ESPN’s First Take, Smith ranted, “It was a weak, putrid, pathetic performance on the part of the Philadelphia 76ers. They should be ashamed of themselves. We’ve seen teams lose in the postseason and we’ve also seen teams being blown out, it happens. This is a series that was tied 2-2. You were down 0-2. 

“You got Joel Embiid back. You came back and played Game 3 and 4 and you balled out. James Harden showed up in Game 4, had 31 points. We know Embiid with the thumb and the eyesight, the fracture in his face. He still showed up and showed out in Game 4. You tied this series up, you lose, you lose. Miami may be a better team even though you are the Philadelphia 76ers, you’ve got the best player. We get all of that. You lose some and you win some but they didn’t show up. Them brothers looked like they were partying in South Beach tonight. I am not accusing them of that but that’s how they looked. They came out there with absolutely, positively nothing.”

Read more: Stephen A. Smith declares Ja Morant to be the best player in the Western Conference

Heat trounce 76ers, take 3-2 lead

Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, Max Strus added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the Heat moved one win away from a trip to the Eastern Conference finals by topping the Philadelphia 76ers 120-85 on Tuesday. The 35-point margin of victory matched the biggest so far in this year’s playoffs, Philadelphia beat Toronto by 35 in the series-clincher of that first-round matchup and matched the second-largest in Heat postseason history. “They were just more physical,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said. “We didn’t run anything. We didn’t run our stuff very well. We played at a snail’s pace, everything they did tonight was harder and better. Their stuff was better, their energy was better.”

Victor Oladipo scored 13 for Miami, which got 12 from Bam Adebayo and 10 apiece from Tyler Herro and P.J. Tucker. The top-seeded Heat now lead the East semifinal series 3-2 and improved to an NBA-best 6-0 at home in these playoffs. Joel Embiid scored 17 points for Philadelphia, which got 14 from James Harden and 12 from Tobias Harris. The 76ers were down by 15 going into the fourth quarter, then gave up 12 consecutive points to open the period.