Hell or High Water: Earvin Magic Johnson graciously apologizes to the Sixers and I’m starting to believe Embiid and company will shock the world

Very kind of Magic Johnson to hop on X after Game 5 and publicly apologize for writing the Sixers off after Game 4. Really appreciate that, Magic.

Magic praised Embiid’s 33 points and eight assists. Shouted out Maxey’s 25 and Grimes’ 18 off the bench. Gave Nick Nurse credit for the game plan.

Wrote a whole paragraph about a team he had completely buried 48 hours earlier. Thank you for the correction. We’ve been saying this for years but it’s always nice when a five-time champion validates what we already knew.

Very Nice. Thank You Earvin Magic Johnson!

Very nice. Thank you Earvin. https://t.co/BoCNBuSk1x

— Drew Smith (@drewmsmith) April 29, 2026

Not Dead Yet: Joel Embiid carries the Sixers to a Game 5 win in Boston >>

Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s still a very real chance the Sixers come out Thursday night and lay another egg at home. Game 4 was supposed to be the triumphant Embiid homecoming and instead the Celtics won by 32 in our building.

That memory hasn’t gone anywhere. I know what this team is capable of in the worst possible way because I’ve watched it happen year after year. The history of postseason disappointment with this franchise is long enough to fill a library.

I’d Be Lying If I Said Something Doesn’t Feel Different

Maybe it’s the blood oath talking. Maybe years of blindly trusting the process through injuries and disappointments and 24-win seasons and emergency surgery have finally rotted my brain beyond repair.

I’m not sure and I’m never confident in how my brain is seeing things.

I do know what I’m watching and that’s Joel Embiid playing basketball 19 days after an appendectomy. I’m seeing a version of him I haven’t seen before. He’s calm. He’s patient. He started 1-for-7 on Tuesday night and didn’t spiral. Didn’t force. Didn’t pout. He adjusted mid-game, went to the post, and dominated Vucevic and Queta until there was nothing Boston could do about it.

THTP: Joel Embiid showed us a new version of himself after carrying the Sixers to a Game 5 win in Boston >>

That’s maturity and growth that we haven’t seen before and it’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder what this team could look like if they actually stay on this path instead of reverting to the old habits that have killed them every other April.

The Celtics didn’t make a single field goal in the final seven-plus minutes of Game 5. Seven minutes of scoreless basketball from the second seed because the Sixers locked in defensively and refused to give them anything. That’s not a fluke. If this team can sustain that level of focus and discipline for 48 minutes on Thursday, the Celtics are in real trouble.

I don’t believe Boston has an answer for Embiid when he’s operating in the post like that. Double him and the ball goes to Maxey, George, Edgecombe, Oubre, and Grimes on the perimeter. If those guys are cashing in on the open looks, the Celtics’ entire defensive structure falls apart. That’s exactly what happened Tuesday night.

Here’s the Scary Part about the Sixers for the Rest of the League

The Sixers have spent years making the same postseason mistakes. Embiid trying to do too much. Maxey running into walls. The supporting cast vanishing. The coaching adjustments coming one game too late. Every playoff run has ended with the same hollow feeling of what could have been.

Game 5 felt like a team that chose a different path. Embiid was patient instead of forcing. Maxey was aggressive without being reckless. Grimes showed up in the second half when it mattered. George was steady and Nurse’s game plan held up under pressure.

If this team makes the conscious decision to keep playing like that instead of falling back into the patterns that have haunted them for years, they’re genuinely scary. Not just for Thursday. For the future. Embiid, Maxey, and Edgecombe together with a supporting cast that executes is a championship-caliber core.

Tuesday was the first time I truly believed that. Not hoped. Believed.

Thursday Night

The spread is +5.5, the smallest of the entire series. Games 1 and 2 opened at +13.5 and +14.5. The market is adjusting because the basketball world is starting to see what the blood oath crew has known all along. Joel Embiid is a generational talent who is finally putting it all together at the right time.

I’ve ridden with this man through everything. Injuries, disappointments, 24-win seasons, emergency surgery, and postgame press conferences that made me want to throw my television out the window. I’m not getting off now. Not when the series is 3-2 and the next game is at home and the Celtics just went scoreless for seven minutes in a playoff fourth quarter.

Thursday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Win Game 6. Force Game 7. Make Magic Johnson write another paragraph.

Hell or high waters! Don’t give up the ship!

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