Grading My Sixers/Celtics Game 6 Predictions

Sigh.  The Sixers are definitely out to break our hearts again.  Unfortunately, I did very well with my predictions.  Let’s take a look –

Question 1:  Will we see an MVP performance from Joel Embiid?

Yesterday’s prediction:  “when the sun goes down (the Moon), and they are on the championship court (4 coins), Embiid will be the disappointed child.”

What actually happened – Joel looked bad in the first half, as did all of the Sixers.  At half time, Stephen A. Smith said that for the Sixers to comeback and win, Joel would have to be a man above boys – and ding ding ding – valet.  It wasn’t going to happen.  Joel turned in an ok performance, showed why he was the MVP during their 16 point comeback, but in the end, he was just a boy among boys, and could not get the  job done.  In that fourth quarter, he was confused and he literally gave up, walking down the court with minutes left to play in the game.  The disappointed child.

Grade on my prediction: A+.

Question 2 – If MVP Embiid isn’t going to show up, will former MVP James Harden show up, or will we see the tentative, slow, inaccurate James Harden we saw in Game 2?

Prediction:  I predict King James will show up, but suffer an injury, and the game will be over for him.

What actually happened – Harden was terrible.  He only scored 13 points, only shot 16 times, and didn’t get Joel the ball when they went down in the 4th quarter.  But, a Bad King did show up, in that after the game, he was impervious, blaming the refs and not taking responsibility for his own bad play.  The headline in the Philadelphia Inquirer is that Harden Costs Sixers the Game – so there’s that pain, and that spilled cup.  So, it should have been “the arrogant king costs the team the game.”

Grade:  D – I won’t give myself a complete fail, because I’ll give myself credit for saying the pain would be attributable to Harden, although I got the agency wrong – Harden caused the pain, the pain didn’t happen to him.  I did get that it would be game over.

Question 3 – Will they win?

Yesterday’s Prediction: Ambivalent play, and poor communication on the court will lead to a tied 3-3 series.

What happened – The Sixers did not win.  They lost.  And it was exactly as the cards said – there was no trust on the court.  They were tentative, noncommittal and failed to communicate with each other, and they lost.

Grade: A+

Guess what?  I’m not pulling any cards for Sunday’s must win, final game.

I’d rather not be right about anything if it’s going to be a loss.

Have a great weekend everyone, and go Sixers – it’s not over yet!