The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 122-100 in Game 5 at home to take the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The 76ers bounced back after dropping Game 1 at home to the Nets, winning four straight to move on.
MORE: Takeaways from 76ers' series-clinching win over Nets
One of the main concerns throughout the first round of the playoffs was the health of their All-Star centre Joel Embiid.
With a lingering knee injury, it seemed like he could miss the majority of the series. Embiid refused to let his injury stop him as he fought through a tremendous amount of pain in Game 1.
On a last-minute decision, the big man opted to play in Game 2 where he dominated for the second consecutive contest despite his health issues. Embiid was forced to miss Game 3 to rest his knee but the rest paid off as he scored 31 points to go with 16 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks in a Game 4 win.
In just 22 minutes of play in Game 5, he went for 23 points and 13 rebounds, giving his team a big enough lead where he could watch the rest of the game from the sideline.
"I still have a long way to go but as long as I'm alive I'm going to keep pushing," Embiid told the media in his post-game press conference.
The 76ers are going to need him for every game in this upcoming series as they'll be challenged by one of the best teams in the NBA all season long, the Toronto Raptors.
MORE: 76ers-Raptors Eastern Conference Semifinals series preview
But no matter who Philly faces off against, Embiid likes his team's chances.
"We feel like this team is better than last year's team," Embiid stated on his faith in his squad and why it'll be different from last season when they were bounced in the Conference Semifinals.
"Last year we had a lot of momentum going into the playoffs but Boston just smacked us. Going into this series is different because this is now my second time being here and last year we were over-confident. This year it's just about respecting everything about the game of basketball and putting the work in."
And Embiid feels that if his team puts the work in and takes it game-by-game, they can go as far as winning the NBA Finals.
'We think we can win it all," the All-Star centre stated.
"It's going to take a lot, there's some great teams in the league and we're about to play one of them. And the next one is going to be either Milwaukee or Boston and then you have the West. We just have to take it one game at a time but we have all the talent we need to win it all."
They'll have to get past Toronto first before they worry about the winner of Milwaukee-Boston or the team that comes out of the West.
Regardless of who wins and who loses, get ready for some high-quality basketball in the second round of the Playoffs.
