Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey is hopeful the team could have Joel Embiid available for a potential playoff run, after the NBA MVP was forced to undergo knee surgery this week.
Embiid has been sidelined since displacing a flap of the lateral meniscus in his left knee during the 76ers' 119-107 defeat to the Golden State Warriors at the end of January.
That injury came on Embiid's return to action after he missed the team's previous two games with another knee problem. Last Sunday, Philadelphia confirmed that Embiid would go under the knife to correct the issue, throwing his availability for the rest of the season into doubt.
The 76ers currently sit fifth in the Eastern Conference standings with a 30-21 record, though they are 4-12 in games Embiid has missed this season.
They have lost eight of their last nine following Friday's 127-121 defeat to the Atlanta Hawks, with that run casting doubt over their championship aspirations. However, should the 76ers manage a deep playoff run, Morey is upbeat regarding Embiid's prospects of featuring.
"We're hopeful," Morey said when asked about Embiid before Friday's game. "The feedback has been more good than bad since we first heard about what led to his procedure.
"So, we're hopeful and we're building the team to make it better this year.
"Obviously, it's not at 100 per cent. But with Joel playing at an MVP level, hopefully, he could get back to that. This is a year where we have a real shot.
"If the hope wasn't there in Joel, I think it would have changed things dramatically.
"We're very hopeful. Obviously, it's not 100 per cent. It's something that is probably a good chunk short of 100 per cent, but we thought it was the right thing [for Embiid to have surgery].
"There's a lot of ways to not win the title. Winning a title is hard; Joel not coming back at the level we hope is one of the ways we can't win a title this year.
"But you always want to be among the best teams and that means taking risks on the injury front. That's where we are at right now."
Philadelphia looked to rebalance their roster ahead of Thursday's trade deadline, acquiring veteran guards Buddy Hield and Cameron Payne in separate deals while allowing Patrick Beverley, Danuel House, Furkan Kourkmaz, Jaden Springer and Marcus Morris Sr. to depart.
Morey believes Hield, in particular, will provide vital support to Tyrese Maxey during Embiid's spell on the sidelines, saying: "Our priority was to get a big, but we wanted to add to our playoff rotation.
"We have to win games and it's going to be a battle, but we were focused on playoffs, we have a rotation that we know can win at a high level. He [Hield] was the only player who moved teams that would play a big role in our rotation. What he brings to the table is pretty obvious."
The 76ers' latest defeat came at the hands of a Hawks team inspired by Trae Young, who had 37 points and 12 assists as Atlanta improved to 23-29 with an impressive road win.
"This isn't the easiest place to play, so coming in here and getting a win at any time is a good thing for us," Young said after the game.
"We had some guys out, so we needed other guys to step up and they did."
Mitchell, Cavaliers storm back to beat Magic in Game 7 and reach East semi-finals
Trailing by 18 points in Game 7, the Cleveland Cavaliers' season appeared to be over.
Donovan Mitchell, however, then took over.
Mitchell scored 39 points to help rally the Cavaliers to a 106-94 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Fouth-seeded Cleveland, which won its first play-off series since 2018, will now face the top-seeded Boston Celtics in Tuesday's series opener.
The Cavaliers won their first play-off series without LeBron James since 1993, though it looked like the team was headed to a second straight first-round exit as Cleveland found itself trailing 49-31 with less than four minutes to go in the second quarter.
The Cavs cut it to 10 at half-time, and Mitchell helped Cleveland complete the comeback with a sensational third quarter.
After finishing with 50 points in Friday's 103-96 Game 6 loss, Mitchell had two more points than the entire Magic team in the third, scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting as Cleveland outscored Orlando 33-15 to take a 76-68 lead into the fourth.
The Magic stayed within striking distance throughout the first half of the final period until Darius Garland finally found his shot.
Garland scored 10 of his 12 points in the final six minutes of the game, a stretch that began with a made 3-pointer to put the Cavaliers up by 11 points.
The Magic only connected on 3-of-15 3-point attempts after half-time and made just 4-of-24 shots (16.7 per cent) in the pivotal third quarter.
Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 38 points and a career high-tying 16 rebounds but Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs combined for just 16 points on 3-of-28 shooting.
At 21 years and 175 days old, Banchero became the second-youngest player in NBA history to have at least 35 points and 15 rebounds in a play-off game. The only player younger was Magic Johnson (20 years, 276 days) on May 16, 1980.
Caris LeVert added 15 off the bench for the Cavaliers, while Evan Mobley had 11 points and a play-off career-high 16 boards.
Cleveland again played without All-Star centre Jarrett Allen, who sat out the final three games of the series due to a rib contusion.
He averaged 17 points and 13.8 rebounds in the series' first four games, and his status for Game 1 in Boston is uncertain.
Jokic salutes 'special' Edwards after influential Game 1 display
Nikola Jokic paid tribute to "special player" Anthony Edwards following the Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard's influential display against the Denver Nuggets.
Edwards notched up a career playoff high of 43 points as the Wolves drew first blood in the Western Conference semi-finals series with a 106-99 victory over the reigning champions in Game 1.
The two-time NBA All-Star shot 17-for-29 - including seven-for-10 on jump shots - seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal to become only the second player aged 22 or under in postseason history after Kobe Bryant to record successive 40-point performances.
Edwards has now scored 119 points across his last three playoff outings; the highest tally by a Wolves player across a three-game span in their postseason history.
The 22-year-old's exploits caught the eye of last season's NBA Finals MVP in Jokic, who shot just 11-for-25 (and two-for-nine from three-pointers) and conceded a game-high seven turnovers as the Nuggets surrendered home-court advantage at Ball Arena.
"To be honest, he's a special player," he said of Edwards. "I have huge respect for him; he can do everything on the floor. You need to give him respect for how good and how talented he is."
Minnesota have looked inspired during the playoffs, with a sweep of the Phoenix Suns helping them advance beyond the opening round for the first time since their only previous semi-final appearance in 2004.
And Edwards insists he and his team-mates are not daunted by the prospect of appearing in unfamiliar territory.
"Going against the best player in the world is always fun, going against the best team in the world is always fun," he said. "Our guys came out and competed, so it's not about me personally, it's about my team.
"It's not about introducing ourselves to anybody; we know who we are. We're coming out and as long as we've got each other's backs, it doesn't really matter what anybody else thinks."
NBA: Edwards scores 43 to lift Timberwolves over Nuggets in Game 1
Anthony Edwards poured in a playoff career-high 43 points and Naz Reid scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 106-99 on the road in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Saturday.
Edwards had 25 points in the first half and Reid took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 straight points at one point during a pivotal late run.
His 3-pointer with 4:19 remaining capped the surge for a 94-88 lead and the Timberwolves held on down the stretch, with Edwards scoring eight points in the final three minutes.
Game 2 is Monday night in Denver.
Nikola Jokić had 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds but also had seven turnovers for Denver and Jamal Murray added 17 points after he was held scoreless in the first half.
Karl-Anthony Towns battled foul trouble to score 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and Mike Conley added 14 points and 10 assists for the Wolves, who improved to 5-0 in these playoffs.
Three days after knee surgery, Minnesota coach Chris Finch was on the bench in the second row, next to the scorer’s table and behind assistant Micha Nori, who did the instructing, roaming and switching.
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