I don’t even care that this is on the heels of an awful home loss to the dreadful Magic. This article still stands. They’ll probably kick the dogshit out of them tonight.

Last year, we all bitched and moaned when the Sixers lost in the second round.

We whined when Embiid, for a second consecutive year, lost the MVP to Jokic.

“They hate Philly” was the tale we told ourselves.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda was the crooning call when we lost in the playoffs.

We were upset. It’s only natural.

But we knew… we knew.

We had hopes and dreams that the Sixers would make a deep run, a finals appearance, but it was tough to see. The chemistry wasn’t really there between Embiid and Harden. Doc was doing Doc things. You could see it in a stretch late in the season, when they lost key games to the Nets and the Nuggets. Two formidable foes with larger implications than a single regular season win on the line. That stretch of games was telling.

But the other night against Denver, that was the kind of win (and streak leading up to that particular win) that makes me think this year can be different. It’s still early, but that was a staple, dominant performance against one of the best teams in the West (#1 seed at the moment). And for Joel, it was the kind of game that gets remembered during the MVP voting. The same as the game last year for Jokic.

It’s early, but take note, the Sixers have the chemistry to do something special.

At the very least, get the fuck out of the second round.